


Lucky For Us

by Bulimia_in_the_house



Series: Lucky For Us shots [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A Messy Self Indulgence, Alternate Universe, Chloe is a bish, Everyone got powers here, Gen, How Do I Tag, Nino and Alya are good bros to their bros, No Beta, Romantic Friendship, Sky High AU -ish, Swearing, also might have BNHA vibes, except marinette, or does she?, tagging is hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:47:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25836736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bulimia_in_the_house/pseuds/Bulimia_in_the_house
Summary: The world is now full of two sides of the same coin: The Heroes, and The Villains. The Sidekicks, whether to a hero or a villain, help their respective sides win.But there are also people who don’t belong on the coin, people who have no powers. They are the most normal of the bunch.----Marinette goes to College Francois-Dupont, a school that spits out the most legendary heroes out there.But she has no powers. Heck, she can't even do fake magic!
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Nino Lahiffe
Series: Lucky For Us shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2171337
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	1. The bennigning

  
The world is now full of two sides of the same coin: The Heroes, and The Villains. The Sidekicks, whether to a hero or a villain, help their respective sides win.  
  
But there are also people who don’t belong on the coin, people who have no powers. They are the most normal of the bunch.  
  
But some would say they’re disadvantaged. Almost 60% of them never make it into adulthood, either being unfortunate enough to get caught in a fight between the heroes vs. villains or… ending their own lives themselves.  
  
Society is like that. It never changes. Only its labels are.  
  
***  
  
Marinette got ready for school. Collège Françoise Dupont is one of the most prestigious schools for heroes and sidekicks in Paris, something she is extremely lucky to get into. Though, being the daughter of an influential hero probably helped.  
  
Sabine Dupain-Cheng, also known as Atom, is one of the more (if not the most) important heroes to grace the city’s streets. Her power helped her and her colleagues by resizing almost everything with no limit. Too big, or too small is non-existent when it comes to using her powers. The catch: she can only target one thing. One vehicle, one building, one person. That, and her probably powerless daughter.  
  
Marinette is supposed to have powers, given how powerful her mama is. But her papa, a power-less baker, screwed over that possibility.  
  
So, why is Marinette going into a grand school for heroes and sidekicks when she’s doesn’t have any powers? Well, its all thanks to her mother. The school acknowledge heroes saving tens and thousands of innocent civilians, her mother being one of them. In exchange for her service, the school allowed her to attend the school.  
  
And so she did, shoving her earbuds in her ears while walking her way into the building. She passed by a couple of people, either getting ready for work, getting their first (among many) cups of coffee or hurrying to go to school like she is. The girl spots some students heading in the same way she is, powers brought out in display. They are all in groups or pairs, laughing and talking about what would happen in their first day. Marinette looks on them with longing, before tearing her gaze away and continuing her walk.  
  
Upon nearing the school campus, she yanks out her earbuds and shoved them inside her bag. She enters the campus in awe, marble dominating every surface, crystal lights hanging from the high ceiling, and beige steps leading to and out of the school. Neatly trimmed gardens with tasteful hedges, well lit hallways and elegant structures give off how prestigious the school really is.  
  
In short, it was like straight-out of a fantasy book.  
  
(The school’s budget probably helped it too, it is bigger than any other schools in Paris.)  
  
Marinette started walking, the statue of her mother looming over her in the hall, where many students gathered around to look at the majesty that is her mama. A group of students noticed her as she went near them.  
  
She quickly walked passed them, ignoring the students’ whispers. Marinette quickly ducked her head, avoiding their scathing gazes and judgmental looks. Its too late to hide her face now, people tend to quickly recognize her after all. If she has any luck, people around her would only gossip, and not take things physically.  
  
She stood around at the end of a hallway, the students ignoring her and feeling out of place as the people here used their powers for mundane things. There’s a girl with an attracting power, using it to mentally pull her bag that fell to the floor towards her. By the lockers near her, there’s another student who used their heating (fire?) power to warm up a cup of coffee. To her left, another girl shot a beam of light at the wall, turning it into a reflective surface for, what Marinette can tell, is an impromptu make -up session.  
  
So yeah, with all the show of powers around her, Marinette felt like the weed in a garden of flowers.  
  
While she observed the many abilities of those around her, she didn’t notice a ball of orange light zip past her until a girl with brown hair and glasses wearing a plaid shirt came running towards her until they said ‘hi’.  
  
Marinette blinked hard, her eyes focusing on the student in front of her. “Hi, I’m Marinette.”  
  
“I’m Alya” the girl, now Alya, greeted. “What’cha doin all standing here by yourself?”  
  
“Erm… I just got here. You know, new school, kind of intimidating.” She said sheepishly.  
  
Alya nodded. “Well I hope you’re not intimidated by a couple of illusions. That’s my power by the way, the one that almost hit you.” Marinette’s eyes bulged as Alya continued on. “What’s yours new girl?”  
  
“Aren’t you new too?”  
  
“Aren’t we all?” Alya grinned. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you dodging my question, what’s your power under those tiny fingertips of yours?” she added, taking Marinette’s wrist and holding it up.  
  
Marinette took her hand back. “Oh, its complicated. I kinda… don’t?” she winced, waiting for Alya’s reaction to turn sour.  
  
That didn’t happen though, instead, Alya’s eyes beamed in delight. “You’re Atom’s daughter, aren’t you? One of the most powerful heroes in Paris!”  
  
“Haha yeah.. that’s me.” She nervously chuckled. “I’m surprised you didn’t notice. I’m… yeah, I’m power-less.”  
  
“Oh that is so cool. What is it like to have no powers? Is it true that power-less people don’t feel that tingle that those with powers do?..” Alya shot off.  
  
“Tingle..?” Marinette is now confused. “Aren’t you gonna run off or.. stay away..?”  
  
Its Alya’s turn to be confused, her eyebrows knitted as she does so. “Now why would I do that? “  
  
“That’s what usually happens…”  
  
“Oh. Oh, you poor baby.”  
  
“Don’t call me baby.” Marinette squinted, which made Alya laugh. “Like I said, I’m surprised you didn’t recognize me at first, since you knew mama and all.”  
  
“Honey, I’m more into reading fact-checked articles than one of those tabloid-writings. I didn’t know what you looked like, all I know is that Atom has a power-less daughter. And apparently, she’s you..” she pointed at the blackette “… who’s here” then gestured at the campus around her.  
  
Marinette rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks Alya.”  
  
“No problem, Mari.” She chuckled when the bell rang. Students began filing in the halls and headed towards the gymnasium for the opening ceremony.  
  
“C’mon girl, let me lead you to the gym. You wanna sit next to each other?” she smiled, holding out her hand out to the blackette .  
  
Marinette looked at the hand of the girl who didn’t judge her for who she was, a literal powerless student. She knows that through all of her experiences, people don’t take kindly to someone like her, yet here is Alya who doesn’t stray away when she mentioned her lack of power. Through her experiences, she knows she should be wary, this isn’t her first rodeo.  
  
_(When Marinette was nine, a couple of girls in elementary asked her to join a game they’ll be playing, a game of heroes vs villains. Naïve little Marinette was shocked, and hope bloomed on her chest as she ecstatically beamed and nodded and played, thinking that these girls don’t mind her lack of power. That hope was crushed as their fifth play-through started, Marinette was deemed the damsel-in-distress like the last four play-throughs and was made to sit there, tied up and unmoving as she ‘called for help’, dejected not only in-character but also in real life.) _  
  
However, even she could see Alya’s intentions as clear as day, and she has been nothing but kind all throughout their little interaction, if a little bit cheeky.  
  
And if she did turn out like the other girls, well, Marinette thinks, what else does she have to lose by hanging out with this one.  
  
Taking the brunette’s still outstretched hand, to which Alya grinned at upon seeing her do so. Marinette genuinely smiled since she centered the campus.  
  
“Sure, why not?”  
__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quarantine had me writing the first 7 chapters of this sht. If you enjoy this, hats off to you internet person.


	2. The bennigning part 2

  
The gymnasium is HUGE! The ceilings are higher than ever, two big fans occupying the whole roof. Basic hanging lights accompanying them. The stage in front is covered by a red velvet curtain, which was covered earlier by ANOTHER blue curtain until it opened sometime ago. Too many chairs line the gymnasium floor, all of which were prepared by the janitorial staff the day before. Alya and Marinette managed to snag one of the seats in the front row, calling themselves lucky for having two unoccupied seats next to each other. The two girls went back to chatting once they both sat down, marveled by the looks of it all.  
  
“Damn, these rooms keep getting better and better.” Alya gawked, still looking up and around in awe.  
  
“I wouldn’t call this a room, I mean.. are those bars over there?!” Marinette asked in bewilderment, who got over her shock only to pinpoint at the black bars on their left. The black bars stood between the numerous entry ways of the gym.  
  
Alya looked at her, still not over her initial shock. “What?” she stated. “and how are your jaws not dropping to the floor right now!?”  
  
“I’ve been to places.” Marinette waved her off. “Back to “the room”, you don’t think this is a room don’t you? For it to classify as one, it has to have four walls.” She blabbered, her hands gesturing around her, careful not to hit the brunette in the face.  
  
Alya pinched the bridge of her nose, massaging the little spot with her two fingers. “I keep forgetting you’re Atom’s daughter, I swear.” She whispered. “Yes, I know a room has four walls. But” she pointed at the bars “those, could be called walls Marinette.”  
  
Marinette smirked as the students began filling up more empty seats around her. “Walls, don’t have gaping holes at them Alya. That “wall” as you call it, is like.. 50% hole and barely any concrete separating the room from the outside. People could get in AND out if the security isn’t tight, and if guards don’t guard the doorways!”  
  
“Well, we have a name for that back in our area”  
  
“What is it then?”  
  
“Its called a bar, Marinette.”  
  
The blackette stared at her in disbelief, eyes wide and jaw dropping. “You sacrilegious fu-!!”  
  
The opening ceremony started as Alya desperately held back her snickers at her friend’s indignant look pointed in her way. The music blared around them as the speaker in front introduced the many staff the school has and eventually gave a speech. It was a long one (Alya timed it!) and she lost interest at the fifteen-minute mark. She rested her head on her hand, bored out of her mind with Alya beside her staring off to space clutching the wristwatch she’s using. She tuned out the principal who came to stood at the podium to give his own speech. She looked around to see that she wasn’t alone, many students are at the brink of dozing off, bored out of their mind or blatantly sleeping in front of the speaking principal.  
  
The man seemed to have gotten used to this type of reaction, as the snoring students barely fazed him in giving his speech. Marinette would be mildly surprised at his unfazed exterior if she herself isn’t bored out of her mind.  
  
After 30 minutes of speech (Alya kept timing it) The principal finally finished and the students are snapped back to reality as they sat up and politely clapped. All of them were given schedules beforehand, sent to them through their phones. As they were leaving the gym, Marinette and Alya walked side by side towards their orientation, where they found out that they are placed in the same room to their luck. Students passed by, ignoring the duo as they kept chatting amongst each other loudly. In no time, they reached their designated temporary classroom, which was prepared for their orientation.  
  
“After you” Alya bowed.  
  
“If you insist” Marinette shrugged, and seeing the oppurtunity of Alya standing in the doorway still bowing, she hesitated before lightly pushing the brunette inside.  
  
Alya went in with an ‘oof!’, looked at Mari in surprise. Marinette’s heart spiked for a moment, fearing she did it wrong before Alya chuckled AND laughed, dragging a frozen Marinette inside. Marinette willed herself to calm down, now that she knew she didn’t accidentally offend her new friend. She laughed alongside her when a blonde-haired girl sneered at the two, specifically Marinette.  
  
“What do we have here? Useless, weak little Marinette in a school of heroes and sidekicks? Absurd, utterly absurd I tell you!” she screeched, catching the attention of students who are now looking at the rising conflict.  
  
“Go away, Chloe” Marinette said, dejected at seeing the blonde grouped with her.  
  
Chloe Bourgeois is the mayor’s daughter, with the privilege of having the power to paralyze people. She has the joy of pushing and making Marinette’s life miserable since they were children. Marinette’s mom and the mayor’s statuses made it possible for the blonde to torment Marinette as early as possible, making the blackette’s childhood a living hell.  
  
“How?! Did your mommy dearest have to beg your way into this school?” she sneered, her eyes glinting with disgust. The commotion brought in more students than before, looking at what’s going on and seeing a potential fight.  
  
Marinette is about to protest, nobody drags her mama into this, when Alya stepped forward and brought Marinette behind her, protectively standing in front of her. “Go somewhere else, you don’t get to bring Atom into this, not after everything that she has done for us” she glared, daring the blonde to continue.  
  
_Where the hell is the teacher?! _  
  
“Who are you? Some low-rate hero wannabe?! Hah! You are ridiculous, just ridiculous” Chloe shouted, who looks riled up for a brawl.  
  
“Not as ridiculous as your make-up, what are you supposed to be?”  
  
“Why you-“  
  
BBRRTTTTT!  
  
A whistle rang throughout the room, interrupting the two girls from bringing their fight any further.  
  
“WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?!” bellowed a man in his forties, wearing gym shorts and a jersey. “It is time for an orientation and you girls can’t wait until lunch to break a riot?”  
  
“Its that Dupain-Cheng and that lackey with her” Chloe spat. “I just reminded them of their place then they started screaming at me!” she added, stomping her foot for good measure.  
  
The man sighed, done with the blonde’s complaints. “Are you done, Ms. Bourgeois? Because I am done. You may be the mayor’s daughter but rest assured, your behavior won’t be tolerated. Ms, Dupain-Cheng has the same rights as you are.” He reminded  
  
“I suggest you leave Ms. Dupain-Cheng alone.” He added, looking at the blonde sternly.  
  
Chloe turned with a huff, glaring at both Marinette and Alya for the last time. She marched over to another short, brown-haired girl, demanding her bag back and crossed her arms petulantly.  
  
Marinette is still in shock as Alya returned to her side, still silent. Nobody ever stood up for her before, this is a first. Alya surprises her everytime. She looked at Alya, giving her a silent ‘thanks’ and shot her a look, putting in as much appreciation as she could muster. The brunette gave her a friendly smile, mouthed a ‘no problemo’ with gusto.  
  
The man in front of them clapped to get everyone’s attention. Once everyone’s eyes are on him, he introduced himself. “I am going to be your teacher for this year’s orientation. My name is Mr. D’Argencourt and you will call me as such from this day forward.” A scoff from Chloe is ignored. “If I call your name, please step forward, show me your powers and I’ll determine if you will be a sidekick or a hero. Understood?”  
  
The crowd of students agreed. And for the next 30 minutes, names are called, people showing their powers off. There are a few sidekicks and a lot of heroes. Just then, Alya’s name was called out for demonstration.  
  
  
  
“Alya Césaire”  
  
  
Alya’s eyes widened in recognition, walked to the front and declared her power, Mirage. She stood at the front for a second, looking over at their teacher. Mr. D’Argencourt gave her the signal to go on, prompting Alya to clasp her hands, closing her eyes and concentrated for a while.  
  
A second later, a ball of orange light began manifesting underneath her friend’s palms, growing bigger and bigger as her eyes scrunched tighter until she opened it and directed the energy to her side, where it spreads into a humanoid form. The light dimmed away to reveal a copy of Mr. D’Argencourt himself.  
  
Students began whispering around in awe, and Marinette could tell that Mr. D’Argencourt is impressed. Their teacher’s eyes are slightly wide in surprise, complimenting her friend’s mirage, how it looks so real that its like looking in a mirror. He stretched his arm to go and touch it, but the moment his fingertips came in contact with the mirage, the copy poofed, releasing puffs of orange smoke everywhere. Their teacher gave Alya a pleased look, where she flashed him a cheeky grin.  
  
Mr. D’Argencourt looked at his clipboard, declaring Alya with a loud, booming voice. “Césaire, you’re a Hero!”  
  
Other students who were interested in her power began clapping all around her. Marinette is proud of her brunette friend, patting Alya in the back as she came near her. Students began asking and crowding Alya, curious at her power.  
  
“Move aside people, its literally just that. Illusions, Mirages. Self-explanatory.” She waved them off.  
  
The students began to calm down as the sorting continued. When it was time for Chloe to demonstrate herself, she used the pointed top of her manicured finger to prick and paralyze their teacher, probably bitter and to retaliate with his earlier interference between her and Marinette. Mr. D’Argencourt punished her accordingly, but placed her with the Heroes. She haughtily sashayed toward the short-haired girl, Sabrina if Marinette remembers correctly, and stood there with a proud smirk as her lackey began singing her praises.  
  
It went on until it was Marinette’s turn.  
  
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Oh you’re that girl.” He said, writing something on his clipboard. “I’m putting you in the sidekicks for now. Ok, Mylene Hap-“  
  
“Wait, What?!” Chloe screeched.  
  
“Mr. D’Argencourt sir, what do you mean for now?” Marinette asked in bewilderment.  
  
“I don’t know kid. It was written down here, it ain’t my call.” He shrugged, ignoring Chloe. “Next! Mylene Ha-“  
  
“NO! Marinette doesn’t deserve to be here!! She has nothing on her. Nothing!” Chloe began marching up to the teacher as Sabrina tried holding her back. “She doesn’t belong here! What did she offer you?! Money? Fame?? Probably blackma-!!!”  
  
“Ms. Bourgeois. Enough of this. I’m sending you to detention!!” Mr. D’Argencourt all out yelled, his face turning into a bright red color.  
  
“HoW cOuLd YoU?! I’m tHe MayOr’S DauGhTeR!!” she screeched.  
  
“I don’t care.” He deadpanned. “This school isn’t government funded anyway.” He muttered.  
  
***  
  
After the mess that happened during their orientation/sorting, Marinette and Alya got their class list (and really, luck strikes them both as they are placed in the same class, but they found Chloe’s name in there too so they figured that it just cancelled out.) and stuck with each other for lunch.  
  
Marinette is getting some food while Alya is waiting at the side. When she finished and rushed towards her friend, she failed to notice a blonde haired boy walking towards them. They both bumped shoulders, making Marinette spill a little bit of her juice onto her jacket.  
Now normally, Marinette is a pretty patient person. She knows it was an accident, and this person didn’t have the intention of messing up her lunch. Besides, it was a little bit of juice, Marinette has experienced worse.  
  
But that tackle with Chloe left her in a sour mood.  
  
“Hey!” Marinette called out. The blonde haired boy stopped, his back hunched down further and cautiously turned around, facing her. Luckily, she could still hear the cafeteria in the background, still chattering.  
  
“Yes?” he asked, green eyes confused.  
  
“Would you mind watching where you’re bumping into next time?” she said, now annoyed. She pushed down her feeling of being slightly guilty for this boy.  
  
“Oh. I’m… sorry? I’m sorry” he claimed.  
  
Alya, who watched the whole ordeal, slowly pulled Marinette away from creating a potential fight. A boy with a red cap passed by, intrigued but looked away in favor of getting food.  
  
Both girls sat down and ate lunch, Marinette shoving food into her mouth as Alya calmly scooped bits of it. The brunette looked at her friend, and asked “What was that about?”  
  
“Chloe left me in a sour mood.” She said grumpily, still shoving the strips of bacon.  
  
“Mhmm..” Alya chewed, thinking. “That boy has nothing to do with that though.”  
  
Marinette sighed. She continued with her lunch as Alya started talking about heroes and the school’s alumnus. She listened and nodded, but halfway through her story she began tuning her friend out. Alya noticed and snapped her fingers, catching the blackette’s attention. Lunch forgotten, Alya dragged her towards their classroom (Marinette tried protesting but to no avail).  
  
“Ok girl, sure it is upsetting that Chloe is going to be in the same class as us, but we don’t let her get to us, you hear me? Taking out your frustration because of that brat is not an excuse either, so I saw blonde boy getting inside our classroom, and you ought to apologize to him, since he’s probably gonna be one of our classmates from now on.” Alya reminded her, walking faster leaving Marinette stumbling after her.  
  
“Wai- ok, slow dow- wait! wait! wait! slow down.” Marinette requested. Alya thankfully slowed down, picking herself up and matching her friend’s pace this time. “Not giving her attention, but don’t let her walk over you, got it. But.. I dunno. I mean.. you think I should apologize to that boy…” She said, entering their classroom only to stop.  
  
The blonde-haired boy from earlier is leaning on a seat, the seats containing Alya and Marinette’s belongings are now covered in rust. They are on the brink of turning into useless dust. The only people in the room is the boy with the red cap wearing the same shocked expression as the blonde and…  
  
  
Chloe and Sabrina in the corner, laughing and looking like they’re having the time of their lives.  
  
Marinette turned back to the blonde again, putting two and two together and her anger towards the boy rose. She angrily marched over with Alya following behind her.  
  
“Oh, you’re another one of Chloe’s lackeys aren’t you?!” she said, furious. She could feel Alya getting annoyed, but didn’t say anything, probably giving the blonde the silent treatment.  
  
“I.. no, it was an accident. I swear!” the boy said, holding his gloved hands up to show his innocence.  
  
“The first time maybe. But this? Is no accident. THiS!! Can only be done with powers, your powers, I bet!” she said angrily. She moved forward and grabbed her and Alya’s bag, who frowned the entire time. She gave back Alya’s and started going out looking for their teacher to get a spare desk. She looked back at the blonde, her anger slightly abated.  
  
“Don’t try talking to me.” She coldly said one last time before rushing out. She could hear Alya talking, before running towards her to aid her in approaching one of their teachers.  
  
***  
  
So despite the morning being a mess, the day ran smoothly, they replaced their desks in time for their class, introductions were made and the teachers are nice enough to forgo homework on the first day. The blonde-haired boy, who she learned his name is Adrien in the roll call, didn’t follow her earlier request and tried taking different approaches to apologize, but Marinette is having none of it.  
  
The afternoon turned out to be uneventful, but she welcomed it. The boy with the red cap, Nino, seemed to be fast friends with Adrien, as Marinette found them both sitting next to each other without conflict. Both were being friendly towards each other even. (Which confused the heck out of the girl, but then again, maybe Adrien was biased towards people with powers and people without.)  
  
Overall, the day ended with Marinette gaining an actual friend. Alya is just amazing. Both of them exchanged numbers, Alya calling Marinette’s phone for good measure as they head out of the room.  
  
Marinette bumped into Chloe outside, the blonde brat looked at her with a sneer. “Dupain-Cheng!” she huffed like the brat she is.  
  
Marinette looked at her, and upon doing so, frustration overrode her fear for the blonde girl “Glad to see you making your lackey destroy the desks today. What is up with you blondes really.” She said, shaking her head.  
  
Chloe looked confused for a split second before laughing loudly. “Oh Agreste? I’m not getting myself mixed up with HIM if that’s what you’re saying.” She sneered.  
  
Marinette’s eyebrows knitted at the implications of that. Chloe walked away towards detention with Sabrina hot on her trails as she clearly tried to appease a pissed Chloe.  
  
Now that she thought about it, she hasn’t seen Adrien and Chloe anywhere near each other the entire afternoon.  
  
_‘Huh’ _she thought. ‘Maybe I should apologize to Adrien’ she walked home, retrieving her earbuds from her bag and shoving it in her ears, humming away to the tunes of the music, and crossing the road as she nears her house.  
____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter without context:
> 
> “Oh, that’s what we’ll be talking about. Marinette and Adrien’s feud” Alya typed
> 
> “Wha- what are you doing? I thought you’re on my side.” The blackette pouted, struggling get away from his grip
> 
> After lunch comes their afternoon classes with a teacher named Ms. Bustier. However, the school cleared their schedules to make room for a practical exercise instead.
> 
> Adrien looked outside to see that the sky is indeed dark, lightning and thunder roaring in the distance.


	3. I'm sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette tries a hand in apologizing.

  
The night before, Marinette opened her phone to see that Alya created a group chat with her and that red capped boy, Nino.  
  
  
“Alya, what is this?”  
  
  
“A group chat” Alya answered.  
  
  
Smart ass.  
  
  
Sometime later, Nino joined in. He asked what this is all about, to which Alya swiftly replied that making a group chat just makes it easier for them to talk together smoothly.  
  
  
(Marinette realizes that she answered Nino with a legitimate answer. For now, she would have to make do with glaring hard at Alya’s picture.)  
  
  
“You girls mind if I add Adrien in here? I promise he’s a swell dude.” Nino chatted  
  
  
“Oh, that’s what we’ll be talking about. Marinette and Adrien’s feud” Alya typed  
  
  
Marinette’s eyes glared even harder. “Last time I checked, you were on my side, feuding with Adrien too.” She hastily sent as she moved down to lay at her bed.  
  
  
And that’s what they talked about all night. Under the covers of her sheets, phone in hand, the three of them talked about the blonde boy, with Nino explaining Adrien’s side.  
  
  
Turns out, Adrien’s gloves were defective in containing his powers, so he kept to himself the entire day. It proved to be too effective though, as he was too busy keeping his hands away that his focus was entirely elsewhere. He tripped, catching himself onto the girls’ desk and activating his power.  
  
  
In the present, as Marinette walked towards the school, she recalled what they had talked about, thinking that she really messed up, and apologizing to Adrien is her personal priority, otherwise the guilt will eat her alive. Nino assured them that the boy would understand, in addition, he’ll be wearing much more effective gloves for his type of power, to prevent that type of incident from happening again.  
  
  
Now having entered the campus, she stood with determination as she searched for that blonde haired boy, to finally give him the apology he deserves.  
  
  
It took a while, not exactly watching where she is going and bumping into people in front of her, but she finally found him in one of the secluded corners of the school. He hasn’t seen her yet, his back turned, sitting in one of the school’s garden ledge. She stopped walking to steel herself, chanting her apology numerous times in her head. When she finally felt ready, she marched towards him when the morning bell rang.  
  
  
Marinette cursed, seeing Adrien get up and walking away. Before she can quickly catch up to him, a few students loitering in the corner earlier began walking faster to avoid getting a late slip, blocking her path. She tried again, and before she knew it, she got caught in the traffic of students, who hurriedly went towards their respective rooms. She gave up and proceeded to run towards her classroom, still looking around, hoping to catch his mop of golden locks.  
  
  
Sadly, she didn’t, and Marinette barely made it in time for her morning class, slinking towards her seat.  
  
  
She looked up and saw the blonde. Marinette froze, having realized something.  
  
  
Riiight! Adrien and her are classmates, they share the same room!  
  
  
She face palmed as soon as realization dawned upon her, getting a reprimand from her teacher and a snicker from Chloe and Sabrina. Alya just rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her, as she squeaked out an apology to their professor.  
  
  
Her first class went on as normal, her embarrassment slipped away as soon as she fully immersed herself in their lesson.  
  
***  
  
As they wait for their next teacher to come in, Marinette told Alya about the events that occurred earlier in her pursuit of Adrien.  
  
  
Alya, bless her soul, didn’t exactly laugh during her retelling. But she did crack a grin when she was halfway in her story.  
  
  
“I’m sure your whole ‘pursuit of the blonde hot boy’ wasn’t that bad.” She encouraged  
  
  
Marinette looked up from her hands and faced Alya. “You think so?”  
  
  
“Sure” she waved flippantly. “I mean, I don’t know why you didn’t wait for him inside the classroom instead, but to each of their own.”  
  
  
Marinette slapped Alya’s arm as the second teacher, Ms. Mendeliev, went inside and began their discussion.  
  
  
3 hours later, after all the lessons and homework that Ms. Menedeleiev gave them, Marinette sat up and went to go to Adrien before the lunch rush when Nino grabbed her shoulder.  
  
  
“Not so fast Mari” he quipped.  
  
  
“Wha- what are you doing? I thought you’re on my side.” The blackette pouted, struggling get away from his grip.  
  
  
“I am. Its just that my dude got a message that he needs to leave campus to get his stronger pair of gloves right now. I’m sure we’ll catch him later” Nino explained, letting go of Marinette as Alya came at her side.  
  
**  
  
Lunch time is almost over and there’s still no sign of Adrien.  
  
  
_Groaaaann. _  
  
  
Alya continued rubbing her friend’s back as she smooshed her face in her palms. Nino doesn’t know what to do, yet he trusts Alya enough to know what she’s doing.  
  
  
“Well” Alya started. “That leaves us later at the end of the day.”  
  
  
“Well, I guess I have one last shot then” Marinette declared, stopping Nino and Alya as the pair looked at her. Marinette smiled “I need both of your help. If that’s fine with you, I mean.” She added.  
  
  
“No problem dudette. We got your back.” Nino agreed with a thumbs up. She looked at Alya to see her doing the same thing.  
  
  
She smiled. Grateful for these two. She continued squeezing her face in her palms, as Alya routinely rubbed counter-clockwise on her back. However by now, she is no longer groaning.  
  
  
  
  
  
Turns out that getting gloves that are really effective, the kind that hugs your skin, takes a long time, when Adrien came back just as the bell rang, sheepish and apologetic.  
  
  
Marinette proceeded to look like she swallowed a giant eel.  
  
***  
  
After lunch comes their afternoon classes with a teacher named Ms. Bustier. However, the school cleared their schedules to make room for a practical exercise instead.  
  
  
Practical exercises are where the heroes come to play, this is where the real task of being a hero starts. The activities differ everyday, but they all have one goal, which is to prepare the heroes and sidekicks for the future. Today would be the introduction, after which the class will be on a one on one fight against each other, all taking place in the gym.  
  
  
Mr. D’Argencourt stood in front and gave the rules. Heroes should stay within the circle, do as minimal damage as possible, once a hero is held immobile for 3 whole seconds, the other succeeds, once you get out of the circle you lose and no foul play should be involved. Mr. D’Argencourt directed the last part to rowdier students like Alix, Kim and most especially to Chloe, the blonde quirked an eyebrow until the teacher moved on.  
  
  
Sidekicks remain on the side, basically analyzing and studying what moves are the best for pinning someone down. Marinette separates herself from Alya as the hero goes off to draw lots and pick her ‘opponent’. Marinette stuck with Nino as she sees him waving Adrien off.  
  
  
“You’re a sidekick huh” Marinette commented, her eyes looking around for any signs that could direct her into figuring out Nino’s power.  
  
  
When Nino caught on, he cut in and explained “My power is Shelter” Marinette’s eyes widened and flushed at getting caught. Her friend laughed it off “It’s fine dudette, my power isn’t exactly flashy, or obvious. All I could do is make a more durable shield.”  
  
  
“That sounds neat, and powerful” Marinette smiled “How come you’re not a hero?”  
  
  
Nino rubbed his knuckles as he explained. “Heroes who’s always on the defensive instead of the offensive cannot defeat the villain, especially since mine has a time limit, a measly 5 minute mark” he chuckled sadly. “It’s just a death sentence if I’m sent out there for a fight.”  
  
  
Mr. D’Argencourt blew his whistle as the heroes readied themselves for the fight. Marinette could see Alya doing some quick warm-ups, silently cheering her on. She could also see Adrien doing the same thing, albeit with less enthusiasm as Alya’s. When she turned her head, Sabrina is cheering for Chloe, who just scoffed as she examined her nails  
  
  
The first pair is Alix (who could suck people’s energy and use it as her own) and Ivan (who could turn into a giant rock monster that uses fear for fuel). Alix, being the most energetic of her class even without her powers, managed to defeat Ivan without using them. Her small stature opposed to Ivan’s gigantic build gave her the advantage to use his own fists against him. However, Ivan didn’t go down without a fight, and managed to bruise Alix enough that she would have a hard time walking.  
  
  
Next up is Kim (whose basically a discount cupid) and Chloe. Chloe smirked and attacked first as Kim dodged her, shooting his arrow at her direction, hitting the brat’s back as she was caught off-guard from the dodge. The whole class laughed when Kim “lovingly” asks a lovesick Chloe to step out of the circle. Marinette cackled as Chloe cried and demanded a rematch, all of which are ignored by Mr. D’Argencourt who had been watching the matches impassively.  
  
  
Juleka (who shoots out laser beams that turns people into flashy copies of herself) and Mylene (who turns into a literal monster using fear as fuel) ended within one minute, when Juleka quickly shot Mylene turning her into an uncoordinated flashy Juleka, who was easily pushed out of the circle. Mr. D’Argencourt blew the whistle signifying the end, looking extremely bored out of his mind.  
  
  
The last pairs are Adrien and Alya. Marinette and Nino forgo their work in favor of betting against the two. When Mr. D’Argencourt blew the whistle, Alya immediately made illusions of herself, filling up the entire circle, and backing Adrien off until he’s at the edge of the ring. He clenched his jaw and swung his arm to swipe at the first 5 Alyas, releasing orange smoke and blocking his vision. Alya sneaked behind him in order to pin him down, and as she reached out to do so, the blonde’s reflexes saved him at the last minute, hitting Alya at her sides with a gloved fist. “Take off your gloves, Adrien.” She yelled, blocking the increasing hits directed at her. “No way!” he shouted back, ducking at Alya’s attempt to grab his head.  
  
  
Outside, Marinette and Nino can barely see the ongoing fight, as do the rest of the class. Everyone can hear them though, as the sound of a fist or a kick landing on the other opponent can still be heard. Mr. D’Argencourt (whose on the edge of his seat, surprisingly) pulled out a pair of x-ray binoculars as the smoke thickened. Marinette looked at Nino, whose eyebrows are creased in worry. Marinette frowned, confused as she turned back to watch the fight between the two.  
  
  
The pair exchanged a couple of hits and blows, until they are both stuck at a stalemate, now grasping each other’s hands as they fought to push the other outside the circle. After minutes of struggling, they both fell outside the cloud of orange smoke, barely hearing the sound of the whistle signaling the end of their exercise.  
  
  
“Alya Césaire, you win” Mr. D’Argencourt announced.  
  
  
As the smoke finally disappeared, Alya stood up, confused at the result “Wait, how? Both of us are out of the ring”  
  
  
“Well Ms. Césaire” he began “Mr. Agreste is lying down on the floor while you came out on top of him in your struggle. Both of you are out yes, but Mr. Agreste’s body is literally touching the floor out of the circle.”  
  
  
“Wait, Are you saying that… just because he’s laid on the floor outside the circle means he lost?! What logic is that?!?” she cried. “He didn’t even use his powers against me!”  
  
  
“I don’t know why you’re upset at all, I mean, you won” the teacher said, trying to calm her down.  
  
  
“Because what you just told me is unfair to Adrien.” She said, holding out her hand to Adrien to help him up. Adrien declined and stood up by himself, still quiet.  
  
  
“You won and that’s final” Mr. D’Argencourt declared. He sent the heroes back to their rooms to discuss with the sidekicks about what the heroes should have and shouldn’t have done.  
  
  
Alya is still glaring at the back of their teacher’s head when Marinette approached her, Nino moving on at Adrien’s side. The brunette seemed to finally make up her mind and stepped forward towards her teacher to argue again until Adrien put his hand on her shoulder to calm her down.  
  
  
“Hey, its fine. You don’t need to keep doing it. Besides, what’s a little competition between the two of us?” he smiled softly, reassuring eyes boring into Alya’s.  
  
  
“It ain’t competition if its not fair.” Alya grumbled.  
  
  
Nino came up at Adrien’s side quietly, eyes looking at Marinette and then quickly directed them towards Adrien, urging Marinette to make a move. Marinette frowned, panicking _‘Wait!’ _she thought. Adrien sees her frown, and Marinette could practically hear him jumping into the conclusion that its directed AT him as he incoherently ended his conversation with Alya and speed walked towards their classroom.  
  
Alya looked at her friend slumping over Nino dejected “Well, that happened.”  
  
  
Marinette covered her face with her palms and groaned, hearing Alya comfort her once again before having to return back to their classrooms. Nino stayed by her side, not really saying anything.  
  
  
“Marinette.” He called. She looked at him and listened. “When opportunity presents itself, you gotta say something eventually.”  
  
  
“Yeah, I know.” Marinette told him as Mr. D’Argencourt gathers them sidekicks around to review their notes, Sabrina and Max contributing immensely to the discussion as Marinette wallows in self pity, their teacher not calling for her. Not even once.  
  
***  
  
The rest of the afternoon goes by quickly for Marinette as she packs her stuff into her duffel bag. The white noise of the class slowly lessens as they one by one get out of the room, Chloe demanding Sabrina around as she waited at the door. When only a few people are left, with Juleka dozing off at her seat and Mylene packing the last of her things, Ivan holding out her bag for her. Adrien remained standing in his table with his phone out, Nino having left a long time ago with Alya, leaving her (not quite alone) with the blonde boy.  
  
  
Marinette thought about her friends helping her by leaving the two of them alone, since Marinette still can’t handle being vulnerable around her peers. But even with their help, she looked around to find that they’re not quite alone, then looked down at Adrien. She thought about Nino’s advice, and steeled herself. She walked towards Adrien, who looked up at her in confusion. She could feel herself blushing and her heart beating fast as she blurted out to the blonde haired boy.  
  
“I’m so sorry, Adrien”  
  
  
Adrien blinked once. “Oh, what?” he mumbled intelligently.  
  
  
Marinette tried again “I apologize, for our encounter yesterday. I admit that it wasn’t the best and I would like to make it up to you. I would do an-“  
  
  
“Woah woah wait, Marinette. You don’t need to give me the whole ‘I owe my entire soul’ to you, as flattering as that sounds.” Adrien said, amused.  
  
  
Marinette’s eyes widened. “Oh, don’t flatter yourself, Agreste. I’m trying to apologize here-“  
  
  
“And I forgive you wholeheartedly.” He finished, grinning at the blackette.  
  
  
“Oh do you now?”  
  
  
“Of course, It would be a crime not to forgive a little lady like you.” Adrien quipped back, then his eyes widened at the realization of what he just said.  
  
  
Meanwhile, Marinette’s train of thought is a mess ‘Did he just.. insult me!?’  
  
  
“Did you just insult me!?” she cried indignantly, turning the heads of those left in the room.  
  
  
“I’m sorry I’m sorry, it just came out” Adrien flapped his hands as he tried to reason himself, yet his eyes twinkled with mirth as he does so.  
  
  
“You’re a cheeky little prick, you know that? Well now you know.” The blackette huffed, she proceeded to grab her duffel bag and stomped on her way out. Adrien gawked as he called out onto her, rushing to catch up with her as she made her way down the hall.  
  
  
“Well, if I knew that would be your reaction I should have insulted your height hours ago.” He chuckled as she glared at him. “What? You’re having fun, and so do I. It’s a win-win”  
  
  
“Who said that I’M having fun” she shot back at him, walking faster, although this does nothing as Adrien has enough legs to catch up.  
  
  
“Me.”  
  
  
“Your statement is invalid to me.”  
  
  
“Your opinion doesn’t matter if it’s the truth.”  
  
Marinette looked liked she was about to murder someone as she faced Adrien. “You know what? Good luck going home, Long Legs.”  
  
  
“Why’s that?” Adrien tilted his head in confusion.  
  
  
Marinette pointed at the sky. “It’s about to rain.”  
  
  
Adrien looked outside to see that the sky is indeed dark, lightning and thunder roaring in the distance. He looked at her to see her smug face and to find her bringing nothing but her duffle bag. He reached into his book bag and pulled out an umbrella, tossing it at Marinette. She fumbled to catch it, and as soon as she did, she looked at it, perplexed, then directed that look towards him.  
  
  
“What’s this?”  
  
  
“An umbrella?” He quirked his eyebrow.  
  
  
The blackette looked at him, unimpressed. “Why did you give me this?”  
  
  
“I could tell that you’ll use your own bag as an umbrella, this one will at least keep you completely dry” he said. “Lucky for me, I have my own ride”  
  
  
On cue, a black car positioned at the front of the school blared its horns, catching the pair’s attention.  
  
  
“That’s mine, nice to meet you, shortstack” he cackled before running off into the car.  
  
  
As Adrien climbed inside the vehicle, it started to drizzle. The rain gradually started to pour down heavily, door slamming shut and driving off out of Marinette’s line of sight. Marinette stood still at the entrance, looking at where the car was originally parked, before taking the umbrella and opening it easily. She walked home, observing the pouring rain bounce against the umbrella and the cold air stinging her exposed skin.  
  
  
Marinette went inside her house, closing the umbrella gently as she took off her own shoes by the door. She held it in her hands, the umbrella tucked under her arms as she greeted.  
  
  
“Hello mama, you’re home early.”  
____


	4. Cupcakes and Wars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's war. And bloodshed. And death. But those aren't even the worst part.
> 
> Puns.
> 
> The lowliest of all entertainment.

  
Mama has been staying all weekend with me, mostly doing nothing but spending time with me.  
  
  
On most days, I have the house all to myself. One time, she and her colleagues are involved in some undercover mission in the yakuza, it took their team a month before they got an advantage over them. That time, I was nine, and that’s when I learned how to live alone for 3 months.  
  
  
You may be thinking, it kinda sounds like child neglect, don’t ya think? Well, no. I’m not alone in this experience, children of heroes (and occasionally sidekicks) are used to being left alone, since kids travelling to criminal bases isn’t really part of a hero’s job. So we kids either turn independent or get a baby-sitter. You get used to it, eventually.  
  
  
Currently, mama is doing a personal hobby of hers, baking. Papa used to help her since she was so bad at it at first. But like the talented hero she is, she gradually got better at baking, and even turned it into her hobby. Every week (or whenever mama doesn’t tend to her hero duties), papa and I would bake cupcakes with her, and I would play video games with papa afterwards until dinner..  
  
  
“Marinette, would you help me put icing in the cupcake sweetie?” she asked, grabbing Marinette’s attention as she handed over a piping bag full of green icing.  
  
  
“No problem, ma” Marinette grabbed the piping bag as she grinned. She picked up a cupcake from the cooling tray and proceeded to pipe her fair share of cupcakes, swirling green icing and sprinkling candy beads on top.  
  
  
Both women worked in comfortable silence as they did so, doing the work efficiently. Once they ran out of cupcakes to put icing on, they moved the finished delicacies over to their living room and turned the t.v. on.  
  
  
“So…” her mother started, as both reached for a cupcake to snack on. “.. how’s the new school?”  
  
  
Marinette took a bite out of the pastry before answering. “It’s good. I met new people, and they are nice.”  
  
  
Her mother kept changing channels as she continued. “I heard Chloe’s in your class. Is she giving you any trouble?” she asked, facing her child. “And don’t lie, Marinette. We could make some adjustments if she makes a fit everytime you enter the room.”  
  
  
“It’s Chloe, she throws a fit whenever she can, she’s an opportunist like that.” Marinette chuckled. “But no, its fine. I… actually made some friends.”  
  
  
“Oh really?” her mother exclaimed, now intrigued and the tv forgotten. She faced her daughter fully. “Tell me more. And their names, tell me their names. I would like to know more about them.”  
  
  
“They’re Alya. Césaire. And Nino Lahiffe. There’s this guy named Adrien too, but he gives my height some sort of ‘special attention’.” Marinette took another bite, air quoting whilst chewing thoughtfully.  
  
  
“Well, you did get the height from me, unfortunately, and not from you father.” She patted her daughter’s head. “And those people sound awesome. Maybe Atom should do a meet-and-greet some time.”  
  
  
“Mama, that’s not how you meet people. Besides, isn’t that abusing your authority or something?” came the blackette’s muffled reply.  
  
  
“The Committee doesn’t have to know.” She waved off. Marinette gave her a soft glare, which was returned by her mother ruffling her daughter’s hair even more. “Maaaa, stop ittt” her daughter whined.  
  
  
The mother and daughter finally paid attention to the tv, an occasional commentary slipping in here and there. They both relaxed as they kept snacking on their cupcakes for hours. When the snacks ran out, and when its getting late, her mother spoke up.  
  
  
“Marinette, I’m leaving for a while. We received a tip of the Akuma’s hideout in the south. The Committee sent me and a few other heroes to hopefully stop whatever they’re planning. Those pests have been pesky since the last few months.” Her mother announced.  
  
  
Marinette didn’t say anything for a while, mostly because there’s nothing to be said, her mother leaves, she lives on her own for a couple of days, her mother comes back, maybe deal with the growing paper work, rinse and repeat. It’s always been like that.  
  
  
_(Is she upset? No, she isn't. She really isn't. Nope... okay maybe a little, but its her mom's duty to protect people. She can't butcher it by complaining like a child.) _  
  
  
“The Akumas? Never heard of them.” She said, curious.  
  
  
“Some low ranked villain group. Almost wanna-be’s if you ask me.”  
  
  
“Why send in someone as powerful as you then?”  
  
  
“How flattering of you to think of me as powerful, thank you honey”  
  
  
Marinette squinted at her mother. “Mama….”  
  
  
“Honey, look, its fine. They really are low ranked villains.” Her mom sighed. “I don’t know why they sent me in. Really, but it’s the Committee. I can’t, I don’t get to choose who I fight. Heroes save everyone, remember?”  
  
  
“Yeah, I remember.” She did, her mama drilled that into her brain since she was young.  
  
  
She felt her mama move, and the couch jostled upon her doing so. She looked at the side to see what she’s doing when her mom’s arms moved around to hug her.  
  
  
They stayed like that for a few seconds, Marinette returned the hug and her mother just hugged her tightly. Her motherly hugs are warm, not as warm as her papa’s, but it has their own kind of warmth. Whereas her father’s hugs are sweet, her mother’s are protective. It’s nice, and so she savored it until she lets go.  
  
  
Her mom lets go too, but her smile is still present. She stood up and stretched, groaning upon hearing the satisfying crack of her bones. “So… what do you want for dinner?”  
  
***  
  
Marinette came to school the next day, bringing a couple of cupcakes to give to Alya and Nino. Probably Adrien too, if she felt like it.  
  
  
“OooOOohH, gimmee some, Mari?” Alya drooled when Marinette brought out her cupcakes. Nino looked at them hungrily too, his eyes sparkling.  
  
  
“Yeah, Mari, give US some” he droned, correcting Alya before going back to admire the pastries before him.  
  
  
“During lunch, sure. Maybe I’ll give the whole class too.. if they don’t mind” Marinette trailed off, her past experience with classmates usually had them either ignoring her or bullying her (like Chloe).  
  
  
“I’m sure they’ll like it.” Alya pushed as the morning bell rang. Marinette carefully packed the cupcakes before the trio hurried to class.  
  
  
“Oh what do we have here, are those cupcakes?” Adrien suddenly appeared.  
  
  
“Adrien for Christ’s sake!!!” Marinette yelled, surprised at the blonde’s sudden entrance. She glared at him as the blonde kept cackling “Put a bell on or something, will ya.” She added.  
  
  
“Nah, your shock takes the cake , Marinette.” He said, looking at the blackette to see her eyes narrow slightly.  
  
  
They all went inside the classroom and took a seat. Alya and Nino pulled out their phone whilst waiting for their teacher while Marinette pulled out her earphones and listened to some music. She looked around to find Adrien looking at her cupcakes. She pulled out one of her earbuds and asked. “What?”  
  
  
Adrien, surprised at being caught, snapped his eyes towards the blackette. “What? Nothing!”  
  
  
“You want some?” she quirked an eyebrow.  
  
  
“Uh.. Uhm..” the blonde stuttered. Fortunately for him, the teacher arrived and got everyone’s attention.  
  
***  
  
“So.. you gonna give them out or what?” Alya’s question was muffled as she took another bite at the cupcake Marinette gave her. Its now lunch time, and the pair stood along the sidelines of the cafeteria, with Nino and Adrien tagging along the girls as they both waited for Marinette’s decision.  
  
  
“Yes, are you giving them out or not?” Adrien repeated impatiently. “And when are you gonna give ME one??” he added, pointing at the cupcakes Alya and Nino are holding for emphasis.  
  
  
“I’m not giving you one..” Marinette trailed, looking back at their classmates.  
  
  
“So you’re not gonna dough it?”  
  
  
……  
  
  
“Did you just…!?” Marinette sputtered.  
  
  
“Figured since you won’t even give me some, might as well provide some entertainment. Flour my sake as well as Nino and Alya’s.” Adrien said, challenging her. Marinette clutched her container of cupcakes tighter, as she faced the blonde, determined at proving him wrong.  
  
  
“I AM giving out these cupcakes” she said, setting off at the nearest group of their classmates. “And since you oh so want to provide us the entertainment we CLEARLY need, why don’t we make it a WAR then?!”  
  
  
_(When Marinette was ten, she often played video games in her spare time. She and her papa played against each other, occasionally her mama would watch fondly in the back, but most of the time its just the two of them. One of her papa’s tactics to win against his own daughter is to make her feel infuriated.  
  
And how does one exactly do that?  
  
Why, through puns, of course. The most lowly form of entertainment.  
  
And so, whenever her papa felt like he wanted to win, he would bust out the worst dad puns in history, and their gaming sessions often ended with two results: her father whooping in joy over his victory, and a crushed gaming console courtesy of Marinette telling her papa to shut up) _  
  
  
“Sure, pun war it is, Princess. I’m on a roll!” Adrien quipped back, biting on a crescent roll while following her, Nino and Alya trailing behind.  
  
  
“Are these two serious?” Nino whispered back at Alya, who licked off the remaining frosting and just shrugged.  
  
  
The four arrived at a small group consisted of Juleka, Rose, Mylene , Ivan and Nathaniel. The group looked up and waved upon seeing the four, confused on why they’re here.  
  
  
“I want to give out some cupcakes, if you guys want.” Marinette shyly asked, holding out the container full of the said pastry. The group looked at each other and shrugged, each taking one cupcake from the blackette.  
  
  
“I guarantee you guys her cupcakes are batter than the cafeteria ones.” Adrien nonchalantly said, watching Marinette’s eyeroll at the corner of his eye.  
  
  
“Don’t crust Adrien, he’s pie-ing.”  
  
  
“What are you guys even saying..? Mylene said, looking at the two of them, confused.  
  
  
“These cupcakes are delicious Marinette! Thank you!” Rose exclaimed, Juleka humming agreeably at the side. Ivan and Nathaniel are silent as they munched on their own, both seemed satisfied by the pastry.  
  
  
This all goes unnoticed by Marinette, who is shocked that they even accepted the little delicacies. Alya came forward and waved her hand in front of Marinette, who’s still clearly out of it. Nino thanked the little group again as Alya lead the blackette and blonde out of the group’s sight.  
  
  
“You heard that Alya? They loaf it.” Marinette said distractedly, prompting Alya to sigh in disbelief. "That doesn't sound promising" she said all while Nino is cackling in the back silently. Adrien walked beside her and spoke.  
  
  
“Crumbling in the heat already, Marinette? What a whisk.” The blonde tutted, shaking his head.  
  
  
“Whose crumbling? Not moi, definitely not moi.” Marinette snapped back, focused, as they came across an ongoing competition between Kim and Alix, with Max as their scorer.  
  
  
“Bread-y flour some cupcakes?” Marinette offered.  
  
  
Kim only looked confused as Alix smiled. “Oh, a pun war, the good ole days. Good luck to you two.” Alix encouraged, taking one for herself.  
  
  
“Mmhmm, pie some be-flour you leaven.” Adrien said with a shit-eating grin. Kim looked at the two disapprovingly, but accepted his classmate’s offer, muttering out a thanks.  
  
  
Max grabbed one for himself. “ Rise to see you bake on the challenge.”  
  
  
“Max, don’t encourage them” Kim said, facepalming with his unoccupied hand. Alya rubbed his back, sharing some sympathy as Nino and Alix high-fived.  
  
  
The four walked away, Alya and Nino chatting behind them as the two went back and forth in their ongoing war. “Bun with the challenge , Marinette?”  
  
  
“Hah! As if! You dough-n’t oven stand a chance against me!” Marinette gloated.  
  
  
“Prsh, don’t tart, it takes scales to be a punster.”  
  
  
“Rye aren’t you getting batter then?”  
  
  
“Oh for heaven’s sake! The both of you children.. just…” Alya moved her hands to massage the sides of her head, Nino amused on the show the three are putting in.  
  
  
Adrien cackled, looking over at the blackette to see her grinning apologetically to her friend.  
  
  
“You seem happy” Adrien observed.  
  
  
Marinette looked at him and replied just as swiftly “Huh, oh, yeah...” she smiled. Adrien was about to continue in goading the girl when they bumped into the last group.  
  
  
Chloe and Sabrina are seated the farthest away from their class, not wanting to bother with 'commoners’ and chose to sit by themselves. Marinette’s legs are shaking as Nino and Alya supported her through comforting grips on her shoulder, Adrien staying right beside her. Chloe looked up at the group and her expression immediately turned sour.  
  
  
“What do you losers want?!” she sneered.  
  
  
Marinette’s hands are shaking at this point, unable to say something or move her hands, her knuckles turning white from her tight grip on the container.  
  
  
“Well?! I don’t have all day you know!” The blonde brat snapped.  
  
  
“Marinette is offering some cupcakes to you, Chloe. Do you want them or not?” Alya spoke on the behalf of her friend, who’s being silently coaxed by Nino.  
  
  
“Hah! As if I want your garbage, especially Mari-trash’s-“  
  
  
Chloe was cut off as Adrien glared at her. Hard  
  
  
Taken aback, Chloe clapped her hands twice “Sabrina!!” she demanded as she looked away from the four. Sabrina finally moved at the blonde’s command. She took two cupcakes left in the container, muttering a thanks as she moved beside Chloe and held the cupcakes on her palms, waiting for the blonde’s further instructions. The four took this as a sign to quickly walk out of Chloe’s sight.  
  
  
When the four believed they got far enough, they stopped and Marinette took a deep breathe to calm herself down. Nino, Alya and Adrien looked at her with concern.  
  
  
The blackette straightened up and apologized. “Sorry, I-“  
  
  
“Yo it’s fine, dudette” Nino reassured her.  
  
  
“Yeah, didn’t know Chloe messed you up real bad. Like, what was that about? She… what.. hates your guts for no apparent reason!?” Alya cried in disbelief.  
  
  
Marinette rubbed her wrists as she went to sit down at one of the unoccupied tables, students wandering around them. “Uh.. yeah, she’s always like that. Even before she found out I have no powers, she has always been nasty.”  
  
  
“Wait you don’t have- agh!” Nino clutched his side where Adrien elbowed him. “Well, good thing you got us then. We won’t let Chloe push you around like that.” Alya beamed at her friend.  
  
  
Marinette looked up and smiled, holding back her tears of happiness. “Prsh, seriously, you guys are the best.” She chuckled.  
  
  
“We know” Alya helped her stand up as lunch time is almost over. “Let’s get you some celebratory fruit punch” she looked back at the boys “You guys need anything?”  
  
  
“Nope, we’re all good” Nino says as Adrien simply shook his head. Alya hooked her arms underneath Marinette’s and skipped away toward the cafeteria counter.  
  
***  
  
Marinette went back with Alya in tow and the cupcake container tucked in her arms, almost tripping over when Alya caught her. She muttered out a thanks to her friend when she saw her looking at Chloe, who whistled and looked away innocently. Before a fight could start, Marinette dragged and held Alya back from potentially murdering the blonde. ‘She isn’t worth it’ Marinette tried telling her. The brunette merely sigh as they took their seat.  
  
  
Marinette looked at the desk to find a cupcake sitting on top of it, a note stuck at the bottom. She took the pastry and read the note, taking note (heh) of the neat handwriting and the crumbs splayed across the paper.  
  
  
  
  
  
You win this war, Marinette. But mark my words, this is the last time you’ll win. We all know I’m the punster, a better one at that.  
  
  
P.S hope you’re not allergic to blueberries, I wouldn’t want a lawsuit on me rn : )  
  
  
  
  
Adrien watched as Marinette smiled and took a bite of the pastry, humming in satisfaction before sitting down and reaching for her cupcake container. Adrien stared and turned to Nino, listening to him working on his own music. He heard something sliding on his desk, and he looked in time to see Marinette turn around, going back to her conversation with Alya. He looked down and saw her signature cupcake, green icing swirled professionally, topped with black candy beads. The simplicity is just enough that the cupcake almost looked too pretty to eat.  
  
  
Almost.  
  
  
Adrien took the first bite delicately, and the sweetness immediately exploded inside his mouth, surprising him. He almost cried at how good it is, the snickering on his side made him send a quick ‘Shut up, Nino’ at his friend before he took another bite, noticing that it was just as good as the first one. Adrien savoured the cupcake when their teacher for that afternoon came in, prompting him to shove the entire thing inside his mouth, saddened by the loss of such a sweet thing. He looked down and caught Marinette’s pleased stare, along with Alya’s sly look. His cheeks reddened at the fact that the three watched him eat a cupcake like a child, and blushed even more when the teacher pointed out the remnants of the pastry around his cheeks as the class back their laughter.  
  
  
As he wiped his face clean, he looked back at the blackette, his cheeks finally back to normal as he squinted mischievously at her. The class went on as normal, energized from their lunch break.  
  
***  
  
At the end of a long day, Marinette is back in the comforts of her own room. She is currently looking blankly at her sketchbook, containing her designs that she does as a hobby. She played around with the silhouette of the skirt she’s sketching, before deciding to take a break from her artist’s block, walking towards her bed and jumping on top of it. She landed with a huff, reaching out to grab her phone, seeing a text message from the group chat Alya and Nino are in.  
  
  
When she opened it, she didn’t expect for it to have gained a new member.  
  
  
  
_Nino Lahiffe added Adrien Agreste to the group.  
  
  
Adrien Agreste changed his name to *tHe CaT’s mEOw*  
  
  
*tHe CaT’s mEOw* changed Alya Césaire’s name to !abRacaDaBra  
  
  
*tHe CaT’s mEOw* change Nino Lahiffe’s name to \\_agents of s.h.i.e.l.d_/  
  
  
*tHe CaT’s mEOw* changed your name to ~goAt _  
  
  
~goAt*: Adrien, you gotta be kidding me..  
  
  
*tHe CaT’s mEOw*: don’t you mean ‘you “goat” to be kidding me?’  
  
  
*tHe CaT’s mEOw*: HAHAHAHA that was a good one  
  
  
!abRacaDaBra: No…  
  
  
_!abRacaDaBra changed their name to ^lady blogger  
  
  
*tHe CaT’s mEOw* changed ^lady blogger’s name to !!!h0kus pOcus  
  
  
!!!h0kus pOcus changed your name to THAT BLUEBELL DOE• _  
  
  
THAT BLUEBELL DOE•: Uh, thanks Alya.  
  
  
!!!h0kus pOcus: no prob doe.  
  
  
!!!h0kus pOcus: Adrien don’t change our names this is final  
  
  
*tHe CaT’s mEOw*: Hmmm.. final..  
  
  
*tHe CaT’s mEOw*: Thank you Alya, you have given me a wonderful idea.  
  
  
THAT BLUEBELL DOE•: Where did that come from..?  
  
  
*tHe CaT’s mEOw*: Everywhere, nowhere and in between~  
  
  
!!!h0kus pOcus: Wanna bet Nino seeing his name and regretting bringing Adrien into this?  
  
  
THAT BLUEBELL DOE•: I’m bringing macaroons if he swears on his first message.  
  
  
*tHe CaT’s mEOw*: You girls wound me, people are glad to be graced by my presence you know.  
  
  
*tHe CaT’s mEOw*: Aldoe I’m not against you bringing macaroons so….  
  
  
THAT BLUEBELL DOE•: Adrien, no.  
  
  
\\_agents of s.h.i.e.l.d_/: ADRIEN! DUDE! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?  
  
  
THAT BLUEBELL DOE•: HAHAHAHAHAH called it  
  
  
  
Marinette full on cackled upon reading on Nino’s reaction, cheeks quickly turning red from laughing so much. She’s still laughing hard, trying to control her laughter when her mama entered the room.  
  
  
She paused and smiled upon seeing her daughter’s predicament. She continued walking across the room, squatting down and pulling out a storage bin. “What was that about? “ Her mother commented while she searched through the bin. “Is it Alya?”  
  
  
Marinette sat up from her bed, watching her mother retrieve pieces of equipment from the storage bin specifically made for heroes on the mission. “Well, yeah. Alya made a group chat with me and Nino-another friend of ours- and he added this guy named Adrien and…”  
  
  
Marinette continued rambling about everything that just happened, her eyes sparkling at recalling Nino’s horror upon seeing Adrien’s terrible naming skills. Sabine stopped rummaging and listened to her daughter, nodding occasionally to her daughter’s stories and mindful of her daughter’s grandiose gestures when it comes to story-telling.  
  
  
“… And I think I promised them macaroons now THAT happened.” Marinette finished, looking down at her mom.  
  
  
“Well, I trust you that you won’t burn the house down while you’re at it” her mother teased.  
  
  
Marinette tsked “Mama, c’mon. You’re not baking with me?” she asked.  
  
  
Her mother just shook her had, eyes downcast. “The Committee has us going in early on a sudden notice.” She looked up to her daughter and stood up, ignoring the growing pins and needles on her legs. She ruffled her hair, looking at her fondly “I know, it sucks, but tell you what. When I come back and I can finally meet your friends, I’ll treat you all to a restaurant with a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower. It’ll be fun, I promise.”  
  
  
Marinette chuckled, saddened at her mom’s early departure. “You don’t have to mom...”  
  
  
“Well I want to, and let me.” Her mother says.  
  
  
Marinette sat in her bed for a while, letting her mother’s fingers run through her hair in comfortable silence, enjoying small moments she gets to have with her mother. If she learned anything from her papa last year, is that to enjoy and cherish every single waking moment with the ones you love, since, you know, you’ll never know what might happen.  
  
She wishes that her papa, or anyone really, told her that earlier.  
  
  
“Ok mama” she whispered. The two wrapped their arms around each other and hugged briefly, interrupted by her mother’s ringing phone. Her mother let go to answer it, and Marinette looked at her phone to see the latest message sent through their group chat from none other than… Nino?  
  
  
  
\\_agents of s.h.i.e.l.d_/: Why must you do this to me, Adrien? This is appalling.  
  
  
*tHe CaT’s mEOw*: What’s more appalling is the death of The Clairvoyant. Hit by a rocket and stomped by a foot. Who knew~?  
  
  
\\_agents of s.h.i.e.l.d_/: Adrien I’m serious!!!!  
  
  
*tHe CaT’s mEOw*: And so am I. But then again, I really outdone myself, that name is amazing!!  
  
  
!!!h0kus pOcus: Nino can’t you just change your name?  
  
  
\\_agents of s.h.i.e.l.d_/: That little fucker did something!! He made it final! Its impossible to change it now!!!!!!!@#$%^&  
  
  
  
Marinette smiled at the craziness Adrien is causing at the group chat. She put her phone down when her mom went back from her call, hurriedly explaining to her that the Committee required her to come in NOW, and that she has to go. With a ‘bye sweetie, love you’ and a kiss on her forehead, Atom grabbed her travel bag, zipping it close. She stopped at the door, turning back to look at her daughter. She waved goodbye, and Marinette waved back as her mother smiled warmly and shut the door, leaving Marinette alone and standing on the doorway, still waving before she stopped and dropped her arms to her side.  
  
  
‘Yeah, love you too, mama..’  
________


	5. Fite me!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Fite me!"  
> 'No'  
> "Let me fite!!"  
> 'No'  
> "Fite me or I'll keep yelling!!!"  
> 'Fine. Fine. Jeezus kid'

  
Ms. Bustier’s class went to the gym for their daily practicals. They have been doing around five of those since their first practical, and if she’s being honest, Marinette doesn’t really like them. Its very discriminatory, sidekicks aren’t trained on the same level as the heroes (granted, they aren’t exactly labeled as equals to begin with) so oftentimes she finds herself sitting with Nino playing tic-tac-toe to pass time.  
  
  
‘But what about the work the teachers make sidekicks do?’ Don’t get her wrong, Marinette loves analyzing and psychoanalyzing the heck out of her fellow classmates, but the sidekicks have been doing that so often, that even Sabrina and Max are falling asleep from the lack of action. Besides, Sir. D’Argencourt never even calls on her so maybe she’s a bit hung up on that too.  
  
  
That’s why when Sir. D’Argencourt announced that this practical, sidekicks get to join in the action, they literally leaped in joy. Mr. D’Argencourt tells them to choose their own heroes, and predictably, each sidekick went to stand beside their respective friends.  
  
  
Marinette watched Nino ran towards Adrien before excitedly skipping towards Alya with a huge grin on her face.  
  
  
“Alyaaaaa I’m quaking in anticipation. Seriously, my arms won’t stop trembling, look at this!” Marinette exclaimed, shoving her arms in front of Alya’s face as the brunette chuckled at her friend’s childish excitement.  
  
  
“Marinette, gurl, all we’ll be doing is hitting other people. Are you just looking for an excuse to hit Chloe?” Alya smirked.  
  
  
“Maybe, maybe.” Marinette nodded, trying (and failing) to look apologetic as the girls made their way in front of their… P.E?... teacher.  
  
  
Mr. D’Argencourt blew his whistle. “Okay, Ms. Hapréle, Mr. Bruel, please go team up with Ms. Césaire over here.”  
  
  
Alya frowned, not expecting this at all. She turned to the blackette to see her face filled with mind-boggling confusion.  
  
  
_What. _  
  
  
Mr. D’Argencourt looked at her with a stony expression. “Ms. Dupain-Cheng, you’ll be sitting at the sidelines. You’ll have your own practicals later on. Seperately.”  
  
  
Oh.  
  
  
Alya stood tensely as Marinette tried to grasp what she had been told. “What? Why..?”  
  
  
“You are open to vulnerability, Miss Dupain-Cheng, and I would hate it if something where to happen to you just because you can’t protect yourself.” Their teacher explained.  
  
  
“What, do you not trust Alya, like, at all?!” she said in a low voice.  
  
  
“I do” Mr. D’Argencourt said, expressionless. “But better safe than sorry.”  
  
  
Marinette doesn’t know why she moved beside Mr. D’Argencourt, or even moved without a fight. She doesn’t know why she meekly accepted it all, as she watched Ivan and Mylene make their way towards her friend, shooting her what should be a comforting smile.  
  
  
At least they tried though.  
  
  
Now she’s just sitting here as the rest of her classmates partook in the activity Mr. D’Argencourt dubbed ‘The Mine Field’, where its mechanics are deceptively simple.  
  
  
One of the members is blindfolded while the other stands inside the area and verbally instructs the blindfolded teammate to navigate across the route, all while avoiding stepping on buttons acting as mines. It’s a totally harmless activity.  
  
  
Only these buttons explode when you step on them.  
  
  
And Heroes are the ones going in blind while their trusty sidekicks help them guide their way through the whole obstacle.  
  
  
And _n o _Kim, you cannot change sidekicks, this is final.  
  
  
Six minutes in (and Marinette watching at the side), the six teams started off. Trust is definitely tested as Nino & Adrien and Juleka &Rose worked with each other seamlessly, almost finishing in no more than 10 minutes.  
  
  
The others, of course, weren’t so lucky.  
  
  
“Chloe! NO!! Right, RIIGHT!!”  
  
  
“Kim! How many times have I told you not to jump-!?”  
  
  
“WHAT?! Speak up, Nathaniel I can’t hear you!!!”  
  
  
“Shut up, Sabrina! I Going Left is the right way!”  
  
  
Yeah, it was a mess, several explosions already going off on the first 5 minutes of the activity. Marinette looks over at Ayla to see her blindfolded and being gently led over by Ivan and Mylene’s duo. She smiled as her friend nervously steps to the side, and upon not hearing her teammates groan in defeat, she shakily breathes out a puff of air. She could see that Mylene’s quiet encouragement and Ivan’s ability to be so sure of himself did wonders on her best friend’s confidence of the unknown.  
  
  
She wonders exactly why she even bothers going in this school when she can’t even participate without getting herself accidentally stabbing in the eye.  
  
  
Her attention went towards her two other friends. Adrien is attempting to blindly go through the last obstacles as Nino is nowhere to be found.  
  
  
She sees Adrien about to step on a ‘mine’ when she decides to interfere “Stop! Stop! Stop!”  
  
  
Adrien perks up, his head turning everywhere frantically “Marinette! Wait, you saw it?”  
  
  
“Duh, there’s a mine in front of you” She said.  
Adrien hesitated before moving to his left “Is this good enough?”  
  
  
Marinette looked everywhere, no signs of the boy with the red-cap. “Uhhh.. Marinette? You didn’t leave lil ole me alone right?”  
  
  
“Uh, yeah. Yeah umm.. you’re good..” If Nino’s currently MIA, surely Sir D’Argencourt wouldn’t mind her helping out. “Adrien, listen to me and listen carefully, here’s what you gotta do..”  
  
  
Marinette began giving out directions and instructions to the blonde boy, who did it without struggle and following her orders nnaturally. A turn here and a right step in the right direction, Adrien finished the activity successfully, leaving Marinette satisfied with her work.  
  
  
“Ms. Dupain-Cheng, why are you helping this.. _boy _?!” Mr. D’Argencourt stepped forward and dragged the girl far from the blonde, who just noticed that she moved closer whilst helping him. She looked at the side to see Nino with wide eyes, not expecting Marinette to step in in the split second he was gone.  
  
  
Everybody stopped, and suddenly, she could feel all eyes on her. Some even peeked under their blindfolds, and others pretended not to care and eavesdrop on what would be their teacher berating her.  
  
  
“You! Young lady, know that you shouldn’t participate in this activity! Instead, what do you go and do? Participate in the said activity!?” Mr. D’Argencourt fumed.  
  
  
When the class ended, she was called into Mr. D’Argencourt’s office, greeting Ms. Bustier with a smile before steeling herself with her inevitable confrontation.  
  
  
“What did you think you were doing?!” her teacher reprimanded.  
  
  
“Well.. I was thinking of helping a fellow student of mine in this particular activity of ours.” She quipped, biting her lower lip upon receiving the man’s hard glare.  
  
  
“Ms. Dupain-Cheng, it was none of your business. Heroes AND sidekicks should learn that getting in the way of a different team is a recipe for disaster, and how else would your classmate learn the lesson with THEIR partner when you do exactly just that. Butting In!”  
  
  
“The lesson didn’t change at all, we still learned how to trust each other. And they were at the end of their obstacle, I’m sure Nino and Adrien have learned trust fast enough.” She explained to her teacher, now looking up at him. “And the baseline of Hero work is to butt in.. sir.. if we just stand in the sidelines, might as well call ourselves civilians.”  
  
  
Her teacher pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, opening his mouth to fire back some sort of retort when Marinette beat him to it “Besides, it wasn’t the rules, or not learning valuable lessons that made you react like this. It’s because I have no power, am I right? Is that also why you gave me a separate schedule for the practicals, because I can’t summon a shield, or turn into a support robot?”  
  
  
She looked at him, disappointed. She could tell what will come out of his mouth right now, reassurances that really isn’t the entire reason why, that she’s not fragile. That no, its not because they’re afraid of harming Atom’s precious daughter.  
  
  
But all talk went out of the window when Ms. Bustier came in, greeting Marinette quickly, and addressing Mr. D’Argencourt with urgency “Sir, there’s an attack again, we need your knights now!”  
  
  
He glanced at Marinette for a second before focusing his attention on the teacher. “Let’s discuss this as we go alright?” Ms. Bustier nodded, disappearing before Marinette could open her mouth.  
  
  
She gaped “Another fight? Again!?” Mr. D’Argencourt looked at her. “We’re not dropping this, Ms. Dupain-Cheng.”  
  
  
He went outside, leaving Marinette in his office. She glared at the broken AC, blaming it for all of her hardships in life.  
  
  
“Dang! Its hot in here.”  
  
***  
  
The whole afternoon passes by just like that, and Marinette interrogated Nino on his whereabouts during the practicals. ‘I summoned my shield by accident. Shut up, Adrien. Those explosives where terrifying! And it was a nuisance, so I went off and I TOLD HIM that I’ll try and un-summon the shield so we can finish those quickly.’ Upon hearing this, Marinette began hitting Adrien for his impatience, one of them luckily (or unluckily) manages to hit the back of his head, for disobeying his partner. Nino dramatically stresses that he can never trust his partner now, his inability to stay put being the deal-breaker for their partnership.  
  
  
Adrien responded by tugging Nino’s cap off and proceeded to throw it outside.  
  
  
As the boys began bickering, Alya (with sweet mercy) started encouraging the girl to speak to Mr. D’Argencourt about what she really thought of his treatment of her, aware of their teacher’s unproclaimed favoritism of the blackette.  
  
  
“Tell him the truth girl, I could see you getting wrinkles and it isn’t worth it.”  
  
  
“Alya, you think that he would listen to me and my so called demands?”  
  
  
“Not if you’re being a wuss about it.”  
  
  
And Marinette did get that talk with Mr. D’Argencourt again at the end of the day, after some more encouragement from Alya and a little motivation boost from the boys, she cornered him in his office.  
  
  
“Sir, I… wait, where have you been?” she blurted out.  
  
  
Mr. D’Argencourt came inside his office looking like he fought a monster, scratches and mild bruises framing every inch of his exposed skin, limping towards Marinette with a tired groan.  
  
  
“Can’t this wait until tomorrow, Ms. Dupain-Cheng. I’m kinda busy.” He said, plopping down on his chair.  
Marinette stood still as she considered her options, a part of her not wanting to keep her teacher from taking a well-needed nap. But another part of her, one that suspiciously sounded like Alya, told her that she would never get a chance like this again.  
  
  
She can’t believe she’s saying this.  
  
  
“Mr. D’Argencourt, please hear me out. I would like to participate with the rest of my classmates during the practicals from then on. And yes , that also includes all practical tests.” She paused, waiting for her teachers, and although she was surprised to hear none, she continued on. “And, sir, I know that the reason why you’re doing this is because I don’t have any power to begin with. But sir, I am not fragile by any means, my lack of power doesn’t prove it and I can handle myself. Please give me a chance to prove it to you? Please?”  
  
  
Mr. D’Argencourt thought about it, all while Marinette stood there with clammy hands, afraid he’ll take it as a step out of line.  
  
  
“Sure, alright.” He said flippantly.  
  
  
Marinette’s eyes bugged out. He’s not kidding right? “Mr. D’Argencourt, really?”  
  
  
“Yeah” her teacher cracked his knuckles as he faced the girl “Ms. Bustier gave me some helpful insights. Rather have you trained here with medical professionals on the stand by than.. you know.. be out there on the field not knowing what you could have known during training.”  
  
  
Marinette chuckled in relief, internally glad that this is over. She mentally reminded herself to thank Alya later as she prepared to walk outside her teacher’s office.  
  
  
She started backing up towards the door “Well, uh, that’s it. I appreciate that you gave me this chance sir, I really d-“.  
  
  
“Wait, Ms. Dupain-Cheng?” Marinette froze, shy of just reaching the door knob “Yes.. sir?”  
  
  
“I know this isn’t the best time but.. has your mother told you about the her latest mission?”  
  
  
Marinette blinked. “Yeah, she and her team are raiding the Akumas’ hideout, something about them being pesky enough to send in a couple of big heroes.”  
  
  
Her teacher just hummed. “They’re pesky alright, those stubborn pests..” he muttered, not knowing she heard him.  
  
  
That got her thinking. The Committee sending in her mom to take care of a minor, though persistent, problem. The ongoing ‘attacks’ that Mr. D’Argencourt and Ms. Bustier left the office for, the ‘attack’ that left him limping like a newborn doe.  
  
  
“Mr. D’Argencourt.. The Akumas aren’t really in charge of the attacks that have been happening recently, right?”  
  
  
Mr. D’Argencourt looked up at her and looked.. serene?.. for some reason. He said “That is a story that I can’t tell, Ms. Dupain-Cheng.”  
  
  
She felt weird. ‘Is it some Heroes’ only thing?’ Mr. D’Argencourt has been always weird but right now she’s creeped out. “Hahah.. yeah, I better get going, it’s a school day after all.” She laughed nervously, Mr.D’Argencourt cocked his head in confusion, until a look at the clock made his eyes go wide and told her to hurry on.  
  
  
Marinette let herself out of the office, maybe a little bit chilled from the air-conditioning in that room, when her teacher talked again. “Watch your back Ms. Dupain-Cheng…. Although, watch your sides too. Those beside you can stab you as easily as those you leave behind.”  
  
______

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School is kicking my ass harder than the explosions in this fic.


	6. Why cook in a bakesale?... and compete.. and form grudges? ITS A FUCKING BAKESALE!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Well.. you gotta sell those bread somehow." 
> 
> Says Adrien Agreste surrounded by girls (and boys) alike while groaning about not making any sales.

  
“Yes Alya, I’m bringing cupcakes AND macarons today..” Marinette moved the said delicacies into their own separate containers, taking special care to the cupcakes she spent hours icing on. “Yes, Alya I remember. Come on, give me some credit here. Why are we doing this again?”  
  
  
_”Because its all for a good cause?” Alya answered sheepishly on the other side, to which made Marinette silent. “Fine” Alya gave up. “I signed us up for the bakesale, and I really don’t wanna babysit my sisters this time. I will be bringing egg pies though.” _  
  
  
“Is it because it’s the only thing you can bake?” Marinette smiled as she double checked her pastries.  
  
  
__“Because it’s the only thing I can bake, yeah.” Alya confirmed. _ _  
  
  
“Well, I’m on my way, Als.” The blackette announced. “See ya and talk to ya later byeeee”  
  
  
Hanging up, she pocketed her phone and rushed straight out of the door. Apparantly, her school is holding a bakesale this weekend. Marinette can barely believe it, if she told her past self that she’s going to school, on a weekend, to participate in a bakesale with her friends, she would have said how much of a cruel joke she’s spouting right now. But no, this is real. She has friends. And she’s spending time with them on a weekend.  
  
  
She quite likes this, having friends is.. different. But a good different.  
  
  
So when she rushed inside with her delicacies in tow and met up with Alya, she can barely hold her nerves, to which Alya pointed out.  
  
  
“Slow down there Marinette. Those cupcakes aren’t going anywhere.” She looked back at Nino to see him eyeing the delicious-looking macarons. “Nevermind, keep an eye on your macarons Mari. sOMeoNe looks hungry.” She squinted her eyes at him, and Nino promptly looked away, although still drawn to the smell.  
  
  
Setting up their booth, she saw her classmates on the side doing the same thing. She chatted with the rest of her classmates, and although she felt mortified that she can barely hold a conversation without stuttering, her classmates didn’t mind, and she slowly relaxed until she could actually sell their pastries coherently. Along the way, Kim and Alix challenged each other on who could sell the most cookies. The class laughed at their antics as they gradually became desperate, scaring the any potential passersby.  
  
  
“Alix! Kim! Stop it will you?! You’re scaring me customers!!” Max enraged, grabbing Kim and Alix by their ears and dragging them to their booth, assigning them to cashier duty. Marinette’s laughter hadn’t ceased as they began fighting over the register, with Max at the side looking like he was done with the two.  
  
  
“Congratulations Marinette! Looks like you sold, quite a lot actually” Rose complimented her, their booths selling rolls and crispy hot buns, Adrien helping the two girls in giving out fresh croissant rolls to other people.  
  
  
“Oh, I guess we did.” Marinette looked down, ignoring Max’s comment ( ‘lucky bastards’) in favor of gathering the macarons and cupcakes together in a tray to hand out (or what was barely left of it anyway).  
  
  
Their teachers passed by to see their bakesale and to probably taste their students’ pastries. Each booth gladly handed out their own pastries, and the teachers commended them over their hard work and cooperation (although they have to break apart Kim and Alix fighting .. again) everything was going swell.  
  
  
Ms. Bustier went over to Marinette, Alya and Nino’s booth and got herself a cupcake, humming in satisfaction. “Well, I gotta say Marinette, you make a mean cupcake. This is amazing.” She said, taking another huge bite of the cupcake as she walked off. Marinette turned red from all the praises, prompting Alya to snap a picture before going over and keeping an eye out in case the blackette fainted.  
  
  
Nino, after being banned from the makeshift counter after taking too many pies and macarons, manned the cashier. The girls were busy in the front as Nino took care of their financial state, occassionally talking to Adrien as he passed by their booth. Mr. D’Argencourt arrived at their booth, looking pleased for once as he talked to Marinette, the girl looking flustered and uncomfortable. Nino frowned at the last part, standing up to see if his friend is alright when Adrien appeared behind their strict teacher.  
  
  
“Hey Sir D’Argencourt!” he exclaimed, smiling with the a tray of buns in his hand and scaring the lights out of their teacher.  
  
  
Predictably, Mr. D’Argencourt jolted, and proceeded to give Adrien a heated glare. The blonde only gave a sheepish smile, as he held out Rose and Juleka’s delicacies. “Care for some hot buns, sir?”  
  
  
“Mr. Agreste, don’t go out popping anywhere with your.. grubby hands.” He said unkindly, ignoring the blonde’s offer. “Aren’t you supposed to be helping your friends?” he pointed to the three.  
  
  
“Ahh, well, Rose and Juleka asked for my help. And.. I can’t say no?” he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Mr. D’Argencourt just gave another huff of disapproval and walked off, leaving the four behind.  
  
  
“What was that about?” Alya asked, to which Adrien shrugged, looking as confused as they are.  
  
  
But beside their.. encounter with their teacher, nothing really happened throughout the whole day, and Nino brushed it off as another weird things teachers do, as Alya and Marinette’s pastries began selling out before lunch. When they did, the girls began packing up (Nino helped, of course) and when that was finished, Alya dragged Nino away wanting to get a taste of the other delicacies in the bake sale while Marinette went looking around for her other classmates, with the intention of helping them sell their pastries for today.  
  
  
Max was exasperated at Kim and Alix’s childish feud. To make it worse, they only sold one-fourth of their bran muffins for the day. He sighed and sat down for a moment, hearing his two classmates fight in the background, getting more escalated by the minute. He looked up to see Marinette searching around for something, and that’s when he had an idea. The girl has a knack for being extremely lucky, whether for something as trivial as finding FOUR vacant spots in the first row at the gym to managing to convince Mr. D’Argencourt to put her in the practicals, whose reputation is being hot-headed and stubborn, its clear that luck is on her side. And although she’s labelled as a literal powerless student, Max has an inkling that her sheer luck is too coincidental to be shrugged off as an average human’s luck. So he stood up, and was about to call the blackette for her help when Mr. D’Argencourt passed by Rose and Juleka’s booth. He stopped upon seeing Rose standing in front, offering hot buns on a tray with Juleka offering a complimentary hot chocolate at her side.  
  
  
This got Marinette’s attention as well. Max groaned, afraid of their practicals teacher and knowing he can’t go anywhere near the man unless he has to. He looked back to see Kim and Alix moving on to practically shove their bran muffins down a passerby’s throat, he groaned again and decided that facing their teacher couldn’t be anything worse than having large portions of pastry left unsold.  
  
  
“Care for some hot bread buns Mr. D’Argencourt? It comes with some free chocolate~” Rose surrounded Mr. D’Argencourt, pushing the tray of steaming bread in his face.  
  
  
He blinked. “Just give me the bread and you got yourself a deal” he replied. Rose squealed as Juleka handed their teacher a bag of freshly baked bread sending him on his merry way. Adrien sputtered as he saw this exchange.  
  
  
“Wha- I- But I did what you guys just did earlier!!” he protested, pouting slightly.  
  
  
“Maybe you’re not as good of a vendor as you thought you were, blondie” Marinette smirked. “Erm.. Juleka can I..?” feeling a boost of confidence, she pointed at the tray and waved her hand. Juleka got it and handed her her own tray. “Let’s see who can sell the most BReAd, Cat Boy!”  
  
  
Naturally, Adrien Agreste agreed.  
  
  
The two set off on different paths. Marinette had a sudden confidence boost, which made her somewhat charismatic, selling bread as fast as one can blink. Adrien on the other hand, got girls (and some guys) to swarm around him using his handsome looks, going out to draw in a tie with the blackette. The two went back, exhausted and ran out of customers to sell bread to. The two looked at each others’ empty trays and narrowed their eyes, both holding out their hand to Juleka for more trays of bread.  
  
  
“Sorry guys, that’s all.” Rose backed her shy friend up, who clammed up at the pair’s competitiveness.  
  
  
The two blinked. “Well, guess this was a draw.” Marinette said, glad that she could help her classmates sell their pastries. Adrien isn’t one to give up however, searching at the counter for anymore spare bread, when he found one of their pre-packed rolls and snagged it.  
  
  
  
  
Max felt defeated, spending the rest of the day chasing after the blackette after she accepted the blonde boy’s challenge. He had been running around like a headless chicken until it dawned upon him that he could have just waited until they’re done with their (hopefully) short challenge to ask for her help. So when they were done, Max let out a sigh of relief, getting up and determined to cross paths with Marinette Dupain-Cheng for her help when he saw Adrien brandish out what seemed to be even m o r e bread.  
  
  
“Oh, for Christ’s sake!!” He exclaimed, so caught up in exasperation and rage that he didn’t notice Kim and Alix running around until the three crashed into each other, causing a scene in the middle of the marketplace.  
  
  
Next thing he knew, Max was given detention along with his two other classmates (idiots) for the ruckus they made. He was sent home early that day. As he was walking out of the school campus with a box of unsold bran muffins, a crowd consisting of their classmates surrounded Marinette, congratulating the flustered girl. Cheers and proud whoops of joy are made, as Max looked back and gave them an irritated glare, tears started to prick his eyes as he went home, with what he knows is irrational anger directed at his female classmate.  
  
  
He arrived, making way his way over to his bedroom to sleep the frustration of the day away. He left the muffins in his kitchen bar, deciding that future Max can deal with it later and collapsed on his bed and stayed like that for a while. His phone ‘pinged’ a moment later, he reached for it to see that it came from Marinette.  
  
  
  
_‘Hey Max  
I heard from Alix that you guys had trouble with selling your pastries. _  
  
  
Max squinted at the screen, irrational anger starting to bubble within him.  
  
  
  
_' I’m really sorry that I wasn’t able to help.' __  
  
  
With that message, his anger spiked, and Max violently threw his phone. It skidded across his nightstand and fell down with a loud thump. Still furious, Max buried himself deeper in his sheets, his face heating up from anger.  
  
  
Needless to say, he did not sleep soundly that night.  
_________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> S e n d h e l p. M y c l a s s e s. . . T o o . . . M u c h 
> 
> On an unrelated note, I dont hate Max or anything. But.. ya know.. plot ;)
> 
> Edit: I almost forgot (actually I did but shhhh) Chloe isn't there. She figured that her time is so precious that hanging out with the class is wasted time. Sabrina just wanna support her friend so she ain't there either


	7. Case of the Missing Folder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its about to go down....

  
Sometime during the week, Marinette was added into the class group chat for the purpose of class-related work only. Of course, since certain people (Alix and Kim) love to spam the group chat with various memes, the amount of class work exchanged in the chat is far less than the amount of times Chloe Bourgeois tells them to ‘go fuck themselves’.  
  
  
Marinette sits inside the classroom, Nino waiting for Adrien to arrive and Alya talking about the latest gossip she could get her hands on. Thankfully, her friend didn’t seem to notice her inattention as she continues to rant about a conspiracy theory on the ongoing attacks of a villain group who call themselves The Akumas.  
  
  
This snapped Marinette back to reality.  
  
  
“The Akumas? What about them?” Marinette asked her friend.  
  
  
“Yeah, I thought they were just some low-ranked villains or something. Ya know, those types who are big on presentation than actually bringing harm?” Nino butted in, leaning closer to their table and practically hanging from their shared desk.  
  
  
Alya, who was taken aback from being bombarded with questions when she was just left ranting by herself earlier, smiled and gave the two of them her ‘journalist look’. “Well, they are known to be attacking in small parts of the city right? Its no big deal, just a few warehouses here and minor shopping districts there. But I heard that those attacks are pre-planned, and that there’s a big bad behind the group, using them as covers for a much greater plan of destruction”  
  
  
Marinette looked at Alya’s eager eyes and asked. “Uh huh, and where did you get it?”  
  
“The Internet” the brunette replied.  
  
  
As Marinette began to turn away with an exaggerated sigh, Alya stopped her and tugged her arms closer, reaching out and grabbing Nino’s blue shirt before pulling him closer too “But get this, they say that the attacks are targeting our school specifically, since the location, and the time, coincides with school’s. They also say, that the School Boards AND the Committee are working together to keep this information from leaking out and causing mass panic amongst the students, creating a rift amongst the student body.” She whispered.  
  
  
Nino pulled Alya’s hand from his shirt, fixing the now wrinkled cloth. “Okay, first of all, there are a lot of schools near the area they attacked-“  
  
  
“But we’re the only major school in the area-“  
  
  
“But… even so, do you know what you sound like right now? You sound like a tabloid writer, I thought you distrust those dudes.” Nino pointed out.  
  
  
Alya gaped at the red capped boy, scandalized at him suggesting such a thing “Shut up, Nino!” the brunette turned around, irritated at her friend.  
  
  
Marinette watched as Nino flinched at Alya’s sudden aggressiveness towards him. “Woah dudette, chill. I didn’t mean to insult you or anything.” Nino said, his eyebrows knitted.  
  
  
Alya continued to ignore him, sending a ball of energy on his way, creating an illusion of bats flying around Nino as she ignored him, still fuming. Nino yelped at the bats, sending a questioning look towards Marinette, who looked just as confused as he is. She looked around, wondering why Adrien was late when she caught Max. Max is staring her down, causing her to shrink at his gaze, remembering the same looks Max is sporting right now directed at her as those during elementary. She forced herself to look at Alya, seeking comfort in her best friend, who began to soften at Nino’s cries of apology. She looked at Marinette and grinned, spouting deflecting jokes at the two as they laughed and chortled in relief (for completely different reasons)  
  
  
When Nino finally batted (hEh) the offending creatures away, their teacher, Ms. Bustier, walked inside. Curiously, Mr. D’Argencourt followed her, carrying a stack of folders with him.  
  
  
“As you would all know, and SHOULD know, your first practical tests are coming up.” Mr. D’Argencourt said sternly.  
  
  
“Now, we know that this practical test is to prepare the future heroes. But sidekicks have important roles too, that’s why each hero will be paired off with a sidekick.” Ms. Bustier announced, as students began whispering amongst themselves, wondering if they could partner up by choice.  
  
  
“I would be choosing the pairs” a collective groans of disappointment are made. “So imagine my surprise, when I came to collect your personal information, ONE folder is missing.”  
  
  
The students began talking, confused. She could see Alya slightly frowning at the corner of her eye, and she can’t turn around to see Nino’s reaction, not with Mr. D’Argencourt staring her down.  
  
  
Ms. Bustier began hushing the students, calming them down before their whispers could get any louder “Class, please, settle down. All of you, be honest, who took your fellow classmate’s folder?”  
  
  
No one raised their hands, of course.  
  
  
“Now, if you admit early on, your punishment won’t be as severe, so I’ll ask again-“  
  
  
“WHO TOOK MS. DUPAIN-CHENG’S FOLDER!?” Mr. D’Argencourt yelled, face reddening.  
  
  
“Mr. D’Argencourt, I thought we talked about keeping the student’s identity a secret.” Ms. Bustier began digging the heel of her palms into her eyes.  
  
  
“WHO IS IT?!” he ignored her.  
  
  
Students began looking at Marinette. ‘How is this my life?’ She wondered, feeling everyone’s gaze directed onto her now. She shrinked back and scooted closer to Alya, who snapped out of her daze and began clutching the blackette’s hand.  
  
  
Ms. Bustier gave Mr. D’Argencourt a look before looking at the students calmly, using her power, Empathy this time. “Everyone, please. Mr. D’Aegencourt, we talked about this. Whoever stole Marinette’s information, kindly come forward NOW as it is strictly confide-“  
  
  
The door burst open, startling everyone inside as Adrien came in a hurry “Sorry Ms. Bustier, I’m late. The car broke down and my bodyguard refuses to leave me alone and insisted in walking me back-“ he rambled as he went towards his seat, passing by Marinette and Alya’s tables. He stopped rambling when he noticed all eyes on him, looking at his teachers in confusion. “Sorry, did I miss something?”  
  
  
Ms. Bustier was the first to snap out of it. “No, Adrien, you didn’t. Please, sit down. We were just talking about-“  
  
  
She was cut off again as Mr. D’Argencourt came running towards the blonde boy.  
  
  
Everything happened all at once. Nino activated his power, shielding Adrien from Mr.D’Argencourt’s wrath, Ms. Bustier using her own power to the fullest to calm both the students AND teacher down. The deranged teacher banged on Nino’s shield as Marinette and Ms. Bustier tried to placate the man.  
  
  
“MR. AGRESTE I KNOW IT WAS YOU! YOU SICK SON OF A-“  
  
  
“Mr. D’Argencourt please, step away from my student. There are other people we should be asking about this.” Mr. Bustier pleaded, trying her best to stop the raging man.  
  
  
“NO, YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND MS. BUSTIER. IT WOULD MAKE SENSE, TARGETTING MS. DUPAIN-CHENG HERE, DAUGHTER OF ATOM FOR HIS OWN DASTARDLY PLANS, HE-“  
  
  
“Mr. D’Argencourt sir! Does it ever occur to you that Chloe is the person you should be interrogating right now?” Alya pointed out, ignoring Marinette’s whispered protests against the brunette.  
  
  
Mr. D’Argencourt stopped his assaults at Nino’s shield, looking at Alya as if she had grown a second head. Marinette stood between the two, ready to intervene in case the man lunges on her friend “Go on.” He said.  
  
  
Alya took a deep breathe “Chloe has been harassing Marinette since the beginning, as you have seen when you supervised our orientation. In fact, you gave her detention on the first day, remember?” Alya looked over the blonde brat, who’s fuming and is being held back by Sabrina.  
  
  
“You Witch!” she screamed “How dare you accuse me?! Do you know who I am?! I am the mayor-“  
  
  
“Mayor’s daughter, I know. Using your father’s position? Highly suspicious though, don’t you think so, sir?” Alya looked at her teacher expectantly.  
  
  
Mr. D’Argencourt seemed to be deep in thought as a wide-eyed Adrien shuffled slowly close to Nino, who’s now exerting effort into holding the shield up in case their teacher tries anything.  
  
  
Their teacher looked at Chloe, who has been screaming profanities towards the brunette, activated her power and pricking Sabrina, paralyzing the girl. The blonde began moving towards Marinette when both of their teacher’s held her down as she thrashed against them.  
  
  
“Hah! You losers think you could cast me away by proving me guilty!? Oh please, that is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.” She turned towards her teachers, still furious. “You won’t be questioning me, or else I’ll see what Daddy has to think about it.” She reminded them by holding her phone with the mayor’s number on speed dial.  
  
  
“Chloe, Ms. Bourgeois, you know the school isn’t government-funded right?” Ms. Bustier says, exhausted.  
  
  
Chloe paused before she smirked. “But you are protected by the Committee. Let’s see if they’ll be backing you up when Collége Françoise-Dupont’s legacy is tarnished by a single violation.”  
  
  
Marinette, aghast at Chloe’s words, protested. “Chloe, are you serious?!”  
  
  
“I’m dead serious Dupain-Cheng” she smiled cruelly. “So am I still the ‘leading suspect’ here?” Silence answered her back. “Yeah I think so too.”  
  
  
She went back towards Sabrina and unparalyzed her, sitting down and scrolling through her phone as she ignored the situation behind her.  
  
***  
  
Nino, Alya, Marinette and Adrien marched down the halls. Students gave the four a wide berth, avoiding their gaze as much as possible. Marinette looked over at her friend Alya, who still looked justifiably furious. Her haze swept across Nino’s and Adrien’s, where Nino’s face is scrunched up in thought, while Adrien blankly stared ahead, not quite processing what just happened.  
  
  
 _“So its either Ms. Chloe or Adrien who took Marinette’s files.” Mr. D’Argencourt told Alya and Marinette upon pulling them outside, while Ms. Bustier tried to control the students inside the classroom.  
  
  
“Mr. D’Argencourt..” Alya said as she massaged her temple in frustration. “Do I have to repeat that Adrien has no reason to go anywhere _near _Marinette’s folder, sure he’s a suspect but so are the other people inside that room right now!” Alya stressed, pointing at their classroom.  
  
  
Marinette just stood awkwardly at the side, and Mr. D’Argencourt looked at her with a strange expression “Ms. Dupain-Cheng, what do you think?”  
  
  
“Well…” Marinette started, carefully choosing her words . “I agree with Alya, sir. We can’t single out Adrien when we have no evidence-“  
  
  
“But he has the motive to-“  
  
  
“The same motive as everyone else if we’re going by that then, and if so then everyone in the room is the main suspect, like you make him out to be.” Marinette explained.  
  
  
Alya’s heated glare is now more subdued. “The reason why Chloe is our main suspect, is that because she has the reason to do something like this” her friend and teacher looked at her. “We’ll find Mari’s folder, sir. Adrien will come along with us, not let him out of our sight in case, IN CASE, he tries anything as you so feared. That, and since we can’t interrogate Chloe anyway.”  
  
  
Their teacher thought about it, Marinette fidgets as Alya looks at her reassuringly. “Very well.” Mr. D’Argencourt said. “But..” he held up his hand. “Have it at least by the end of the day. We’ll try what we can do but we really need her files for her practical tests.” _  
  
  
  
And that’s how they came to be, as they searched for Marinette’s files in the School Faculty Room.  
“Adrien?” Alya asked.  
  
  
The blonde boy looked at her as he continued looking through the various papers held in the office “Hmm?”  
  
  
“Why was Sir D’Argencourt so insistent at you being a culprit?”  
  
  
Adrien stopped in the middle of checking a random drawer, pausing “I don’t know.”  
  
  
“What… Adrien, what did you do?” Marinette held up a box as Alya started scanning the contents inside.  
  
  
“Me? Nothing!” Adrien said, offended, he went towards Nino and helped him sort out the various magazines on the floor. “I really don’t know, why would you think I have anything to do with this?”  
  
  
“Well, you don’t. But you came in late-“  
  
  
“Because the car tires popped”  
  
  
“ -And Sir D’Argencourt has been fixated on you since the first practicals.”  
  
  
“Because I am that eye-catching, Marinette.”  
  
  
Marinette slammed the box on top of an unoccupied desk. “Adrien I’m serious”  
  
  
“And so am I” he shot back, stopping on their impromptu search. “Believe me when I say that I am sorry that your personal information was misplaced by those that are incompetent.. but I have no idea why-“  
  
  
The door to the faculty room opened, an intruder inviting themselves inside. They quietly closed the door and explored the room.  
  
  
“Who was that?” Nino asked.  
  
  
The drawer near them paused mid-open, the sounds of shoes shuffling towards them can be heard.  
  
  
‘Shh!’ the three hushed Nino, glaring at the boy, who zipped his lips immediately.  
  
  
By this time, the intruder moved on, not seeing the four friends, hidden by a bunch of misplaced towers of magazines and boxes. They observed the floating miscellaneous pieces of papers, moving furniture and drawers opening on their own.  
  
  
“Is that..” Marinette squinted, catching the glare of reflected light on the intruder’s glasses. “.. Is that Sabrina?”  
  
  
“Nice eye, princess. Certainly, that would help us.” Adrien whispered.  
  
  
“Of course it will!” Alya hissed as Sabrina moved a bunch of abandoned projects in the corner. “Only Chloe would demand her to snoop around like some dog.”  
  
  
“Well, good job then Marinette” Adrien rolled his eyes as Marinette looked at him, annoyed.  
  
  
“Shhhh!” Nino shushed them, still watching.  
  
  
A few minutes of crouching down silently paid off when Sabrina’s phone rang, its sound deafening. She took it out of her specially made pocket and answered it in a meek tone.  
  
  
“Hello?”  
  
  
The four friends strained to hear the other end of the conversation, they moved closer, enough to make out Chloe’s voice on the other side.  
  
  
“I’m sorry that I’m taking such a long time, Chloe.” Sabrina replied. “But the office is just so disorganized I can’t find it anywhere.”  
  
  
The blonde’s voice screeched at the other end, Marinette can feel Sabrina flinching at the brat’s voice. “Ok, fine. I’ll be in the faculty’s storage room.” The girl told her friend, now opening the door and stepping outside the room.  
  
  
Marinette stood up when she thought Sabrina was gone, only to knock over a precariously perched box. The box came down with a loud ‘thunk’, its insides splattering everywhere. Nino, Alya and Adrien yanked the girl back down, barely holding back her protest from being roughly handled.  
  
  
The door stopped moving as soon as the box fell. The four could still see Sabrina holding up her phone as Chloe demanded the girl’s attention.  
  
  
“It was..” she paused. “… nothing. Just the wind, Chloe” she said quietly, standing still for a while longer before finally, slowly, closing the door shut, leaving the four reeling from almost getting caught.  
  
  
They stayed still, in case Sabrina hadn’t truly left yet, and afraid of being exposed from their hiding place. Adrien came out of it first, looking out for any glare of light reflected, or any sounds of shuffling clothes. He was followed by Nino, then by Alya, who looked out before finally releasing a sigh of relief. Their adrenaline from the encounter (or lack of there of) disappeared, and Marinette finally trusts herself to stand up.  
  
  
She looked down in shame. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry that I almost blew our cover.” She said.  
  
  
“Its fine.” Alya said, wrapping around the girl’s hunched frame. “Besides, we now got something...”  
  
  
Marinette looked up at the brunette, then at the two boys, who looked exhausted but not angry at her mishap.  
  
  
“We’re going to the storage room” Adrien told them. “I hate the storage room..” he muttered darkly.  
  
  
Marinette giggled at his reaction as Nino opened the door, the four getting out of the room and bee-lined towards the Faculty Storage Room.  
  
***  
  
They opened the Faculty Storage Room with ease and peeked inside. Turning on the lights, Alya, Marinette and Adrien went inside, with Nino staying outside on a look out.  
  
  
The trio searched high and lo in the shelves, inside random boxes and buckets for Marinette’s folder.  
  
  
“You guys found anything?” Alya asked having searched the same box for the third time.  
  
  
“Nope” Adrien answered, dejected, setting down the rags that covered a good portion of a shelf.  
  
  
Marinette crouched down and squinted, laser focus for any white rectangular object that could be hidden in plain sight, she scanned the walls, the boxes and the bookshelves once again.  
  
  
“You know, I have no idea why Chloe would decide to hide Marinette’s files in here specifically.” She could hear Adrien musing to himself as the blackette checked the shelves again.  
  
  
“It’s Chloe” Alya snorted. “The root of all evil, look what they have done to my girl. Am I right Marinette?”  
  
  
Marinette squinted even further before going wide-eyed, now ignoring the two behind her as she forced the two shelves apart, grunting as she did so.  
  
  
“Marinette, I get it. You’re a strong independent woman who takes no shit from anyone. No need to put it in the o-“  
  
  
Alya rushed to Marinette’s side when she figured out what her friend is trying to do. “For heaven’s sake, Adrien help us pull!” Alya said, pulling the metal the metal shelf.  
  
  
“Well, we can’t do that now. The backs of those cabinets are rusting, clearly we can’t move it unless we get Iva-“ he was cut off by Alya’s fiery glare.  
  
  
Adrien sighed, putting his hands on the girls’ shoulder and telling them to stop. They hesitantly complied as they see Adrien reach to pull his gloves off. The black leathery material slid off, revealing his tanned hands underneath.  
  
  
‘Cataclysm’ Adrien muttered under his breathe, as what seems to be black energy of pure chaos appeared, dancing on his palms. He proceeded to place all five fingers on the shelf, mindful of his palms. And upon a few seconds of contact, the rush of rust and decay spread throughout the shelf, easily breaking the offending material.  
  
  
Something fell when Adrien broke the shelf, no longer held up tightly in between the furniture. Alya retrieved the thing, Marinette moved to look behind her.  
  
‘Marinette Dupain-Cheng’  
  
  
Splayed across the dusty folder.  
  
  
  
They all went out, Adrien tugging on his now gloved hands, Nino looked at them with wide relieved eyes upon seeing them coming out with something.  
  
  
“Oh, gosh dudette, you finally have it” Nino grinned referring to the folder in their hands.  
  
  
“Yeah, can you believe it? Only at the cost of school propert-“  
  
  
“What!?”  
  
  
“- but only ONE piece of school property, lucky for us” Adrien grinned back, the girls smiled slightly.  
  
  
“Prsh, you boys, we gotta return this to Mr. D’Argencourt.” Alya reminded them. “Adrien, honey. You’re glad you’re innocent. Marinette, sweetie. You could finally join us in the practical tests.”  
  
  
“Awww gee, thanks Alya.” Adrien told her, facing a silent Marinette. “You good?” he elbowed her side lightly.  
  
  
Marinette looked at her friends, then back to her folder. “You all went so far just to help me. I can’t believe it.” She said, dazed.  
  
  
“Well, believe it baby!” Adrien winked, as Marinette frowned and muttered ‘don’t call me baby’  
  
  
“We’re happy to help, dudette.” Nino happily said. “It’s no biggie.”  
  
  
“Oh but for Chloe it is.” Alya growled. Her friends looked at her, alarmed, until she laughed, slowing down from the force of her laughter. “Look at your faces HAHAHAH, I can’t!”  
  
***  
  
The four entered the teacher’s office, the secretary perked up and began greeting them.  
  
  
“Hi, do you students need anything?” the lady said, wringing her hands nervously.  
  
  
“Uh, yes” Alya adjusted her glasses “We would like to give this back to Mr. D’Argencourt? Or Ms. Bustier? Either of them will do.” She said holding up Marinette’s files.  
  
  
“Ahh yes, Ms. Marinette’s missing folder."  
  
  
"Woah, how did you know?" Marinette asked in wonder.  
  
  
"Word travel fast around here dear." She winked. "Well, you’re in luck. Both of them are inside their own offices, down the hall to the left.” The young woman smiled, pointing to the hallway in her right.  
  
  
The four all gave a chorus of “thanks” to the lady before continuing down the path silently. As they neared the end, voices of Ms. Bustier and Mr. D’Argencourt can be heard, only muffled by wooden doors.  
  
  
The four looked at each other, not knowing what to do. A few minutes of standing around made an impatient Alya bend down and listen closely to the conversation the two teachers are having.  
  
  
“Ms. Bustier, by all means, I respect your decisions as a fellow teacher. But I cannot-“  
  
  
“What? You cannot wHAt? D’Argencourt, he is still your student-“  
  
  
“A student I didn’t willingly sign up for-“  
  
  
Alya continued listening as Marinette and Nino gave her an “I can’t believe you” look, the latter two deciding to listen in at the last minute as she shushes them harshly, Adrien at the side staring blankly at the wall.  
  
  
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous Mr. D’Argencourt. We don’t discriminate students based on their-“  
  
  
  
C R A C K !  
  
  
Alya almost gave herself whiplash from quickly standing up, eyes bugged out in fear and adrenaline as she handed off the folder to Marinette in time when the door opened with Mr. D’Argencourt’s fiery eyes and Ms. Bustier’s calming gaze.  
  
  
“Marinette, Alya, Nino and Adrien” Ms. Bustier greeted them as Mr. D’Argencourt bristled at the side. “What brings you here?”  
  
  
“Umm.. uh” Marinette’s mind supplied. “Ms. Bustier. My folder. For the practicals.” She said, handing the white, dusty stationery to her teachers.  
  
  
“Oh, thank goodness that you finally found it, Marinette.” Ms. Bustier smiled at them four.  
  
  
“No problem, Miss” Nino tipped his hat “We’ll just go ahead and be on our merry way-“  
  
  
“Actually..” Mr. D’Argencourt stopped them. “By any chance, did you hear our.. earlier.. discussion?” He demanded, eyes narrowed as it swept across the four students accusingly.  
  
  
“Nope. None at all.” “Nuh-uh” Marinette and Alya answered, the former sweating nervously as the latter held her gaze.  
  
  
Mr. D’Argencourt looked at them for a minute or two before nodding, going back inside the office. Marinette reminded herself to breathe as Ms. Bustier, holding her folder, looked at the four knowingly.  
  
  
“I trust you students that you’ll be keeping this between us?” Alya, Nino and Marinette nodded. “Adrien?” She called out to the blonde boy, who snapped out of merely staring at the wall.  
  
  
“You good?” she asked, to which the blonde nodded numbly.  
  
  
“Cool, cool. Now hurry off into your classes. I’ll see you all next time, alright?” She smiled once again, before shutting the door gently, leaving the four alone in the hallway.  
  
  
“Okay, who made the sound?” Alya said, annoyed. The three only looked at each other, making Alya look furious each second until Adrien finally raised his hand guiltily, an apologetic grin on his face.  
  
  
“Adrien..” Alya started, and the three watched as Adrien backed away from the brunette, looking over at Nino and Marinette for help (the two just shrugged, traitors!). “Say your prayers, ‘cuz you gotta tell me WHY YOU DESTROYED THE WALL AT THE WORST TIME?!” the brunette yelled, moving forward towards the blonde, prompting him to break out on a run with Alya following closely.  
  
  
“WAT WAIT ALYA LET ME EXPLAIN!” Adrien pleaded, his other (traitors) friends looking at the two, amused.  
  
  
“OH YOU BETTER HAVE AN EXPLANATION PRETTY BOY, YOU BETTER!!” Alya said in the distance, their ruckus reaching farther and farther away.  
  
  
“Wanna help Alya not commit murder?” Nino asked the blackette, who merely nodded and agreed as the two set off to stop the brunette.  
  
***  
  
Afternoon classes ended, with Adrien still nursing the bump he received from Alya’s rampage, their teachers: Ms. Bustier and Mr. D’Argencourt stood in front of their class to give the announcement.  
  
  
“Ms. Dupain-Cheng finally found her folder containing her personal information. So if something this important happened again, there will be severe consequences to whoever did this.” Ms. Bustier said in a serious tone, looking somberly at the class.  
  
  
”And if ANYONE! A N Y O N E ! pulled the same ‘prank’...” he warned them all. “Trust Ms. Bustier that there will be a serious investigation! With severe consequences.” He said, glaring at Adrien, who just shrunk under his gaze, Alya noted.  
  
  
The class all agreed. Chloe looked petulantly at the side with crossed arms. “Well that’s too bad.” Her comment is ignored by everyone in the room.  
  
  
Everyone but Alya.  
  
  
“SIR!” Alya stood up slamming her desk. “It was Chloe!” the blonde brat looked back at her, aghast but the brunette barreled on. “Adrien is by all means innocent, you have to stop singling him out everytime something _unfortunate _happens!”  
  
  
Mr. D’Argencourt was about to say something when he was cut off by Chloe. “You don’t have any irrefutable proof that I even t o u c h e d Dupain-Cheng’s thing!”  
  
  
Ms. Bustier stepped forward to calm down the both girls but was ignored. “Sending Sabrina in the School Faculty Room looking for something?! Telling her to go to the Faculty Storage Room where Marinette’s folder was LOCATED?! ANY MORE IRREFUTABLE EVIDENCES, QUEEN BITCH?!”  
  
  
Chloe was startled, giving Ms. Bustier enough time to stop the girls from going any further. They dismissed the class, and the students , who were understandably uncomfortable at their confrontation, quickly stood up and hightailed out of the room.  
  
  
Marinette calmed Alya down, who’s all red-faced from all the yelling. She rubbed circles against the brunette’s back when the blonde girl stopped by in front of them.  
  
  
“Before you blow off, I gotta say those are horrible proofs, even for you.”  
  
  
Alya was about to fire back when Chloe motioned for her to stop, this time, lowering her voice to a growl. “Save it! I made Sabrina look for my bracelet that I’m sure you can’t even dream of affording. And I told her to go to the storage room when I practically heard Dupain-Cheng mess up in the faculty room” Marinette blushed in embarrassment at the mention of her screw up.  
  
  
“Besides, you got what you want, and I found what I want.” She said holding up a diamond-encrusted bracelet. “So I suggest you keep your own mouth from running, Césaire.” She finished with a huff, turning towards the door with Sabrina meekly scuttling behind her.  
  
  
‘Wait, if Chloe didn’t do it. Then who stole my folder..?’ Marinette wondered, rubbing her friend’s back as she also mulled on this new information.  
  
  
“So, you guys going?” Nino appeared “Alya, you cool?”  
  
“Yeah” she said, standing up. “I’m good.”  
  
  
Adrien walked beside Marinette. “Thanks, for.. yelling on my behalf” he told Alya, who just smiled tiredly at him.  
  
  
“No prob blondie. Gotta go, I have little demons waiting at home.” She said, walking up to Nino, chatting with the boy on their way out. Marinette watched the two and looked at Adrien only to see him smiling.  
  
  
“Do you like Alya?” she asked, smirking.  
  
  
Adrien looked at her sporting some sort of weird expression. “Nah..” he said, looking away. “She’s like an older sibling I never had.”  
  
  
Marinette shares his sentiment. “I guess. I know what you mean.” She told him. “She’s a natural in taking on the ‘older sibling’ role, Alya’s the first person who really looks out for me, besides my parents... and I guess for you too.”  
  
  
The two walked down the hallways of the school, all towards the main door, chatting with each other and simply keeping each other for company. Marinette kept walking until she felt Adrien stop. She looked back, confused on to why.  
  
  
“Why did you stop?” she said, gripping her duffel bag tighter.  
  
  
Adrien shot her an easygoing smile “I have a ride remember?”  
  
  
“Oh, right!” Marinette chuckled, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. “Till next time, Agreste”  
  
  
“Please, call me Adrien” he shouted at her, earning him a laugh from the blackette  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
As soon as Marinette had walked far enough, Adrien fiddled with the silver ring that fitted snugly on his gloved finger.  
  
  
  
  
Somewhere in the school's closet, a disgruntled janitor happen to come upon rusted pieces of metal. He frowned, kicking the offending material once, then twice. Once it was clear that it isn't going anywhere, he sighed, grumbling.  
  
  
"Stupid kids. Destroying school property willy nilly.. why I oughta-" he said, bending down and picking up the pieces to be thrown away.  
______

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EyYy sorry for the late update. You know how school kicks ur ass so much, that even though its still kicking your ass right now you just H A V E to post this? Yeah its this chapter.
> 
> At first, I was gonna make Alya be the one who stole the folder, but then naaahhh that's just too far. And to be clear, as much as they hate Chloe, she didn't get Marinette's folder either. She's a brat, but not a thief.
> 
> Also a lot has been going on, I don't know if it a responsible thing to do to share this (probably not), I just have to say something. A guy I've been pining for told me he just got himself a girlfriend. We're friends so of course he told me. And it hurts? But I brought this upon myself when I specifically made myself unavailable enough that he'll get tired. I guess it worked. 
> 
> Now all I gotta do is move on for reals~
> 
> That's all! Thank you for coming to my TED Talk~!


	8. Don't Get Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sleep over. A panicking Marinette.A cuckoo-lander officer.
> 
> We can never trust Alya to navigate us again.

  
It’s been two months since Mr. D’Argencourt allowed Marinette to participate in the physical side of the practicals. It wasn’t easy, the sidekicks might not be doing as much action as the heroes, but they are still helping them make the situation easier, which led to Marinette nursing her sore muscles at the end of the day.  
  
“And mom you won’t believe it. Nino finally extended the time limit on his shield. Now he can.. like.. go on and on twice his previous time limit before he could feel the strain. I’m really proud of him. Me and Alya are a good pair too, although I feel bad. She’s a hero whose sidekick is.. well, me. I dunno, I mean, she hasn’t complained yet but its Alya, I’m probably a burden to her during activities.”  
  
“Mari, sweetie..” her mom comforted, her voice a little bit distorted due to the limited cellphone service. “Sweetie, I love you, and you know Alya would never even entertain the thought of you being useless.” Marinette could hear her mom moving. “And you were never useless, you worked harder than most people I know. And I know a lot of people.”  
  
Marinette chuckled, immediately feeling warm from her mother’s words. “Gee mama, aren’t you just sweet.” Her mother laughed airily, probably moving some more. “Adrien and Nino are a good team. Granted, Adrien, for the life if that guy, cannot stay still, that impatient little shit.” ‘Language!’ her mother warned, which Marinette ignored. “But sometimes the four of us would switch teams, scramble up members. He and Alya are a nightmare, but Alya’s mirage and Nino’s shield work extremely well, so there’s that.”  
  
“What about you, mama? How is the mission?” she asked, apprehensive.  
  
Her mama sighed, sounding weary and exhausted. “This might be my longest mission yet. They attack randomly, the tip for their hideout is a hoax, and worse of all, they are like roaches. Weak, but they are fricking everywhere” ‘Language’ Marinette echoed, attempting to lighten the mood. “Oh hush you.”  
  
“Well, I hope you come home soon mama. I miss you.” She said, voice filled with longing.  
  
“I will, soon.” Her mother reassured her. They spent the next minutes they had talking about the shenanigans she sometimes finds herself in and intentionally left out how Mr. D’Argencourt has been more _twitchy _lately. They ended the call with a few more heartfelt goodbyes after her mother is being called by her colleagues.  
  
Marinette set the phone down by her desk, looking at the unfinished work she has and grumbled, throwing herself into the papers and accepting that she probably won’t be getting any decent sleep tonight.  
  
***  
  
Marinette trudged towards the school campus the next morning, walked through the hallways and quickly found Nino’s red cap. She hurriedly moved on and sat next to him. She leaned on the wall and closed her eyes to take a nap, before waking up again to the sounds of their blonde friend bothering her.  
  
“Oh lookie here, Marinette’s asleep.” He commented, poking her shoulder as the girl grumbled at his touch. “What did you do last night? I know it’s the weekend and you and Alya hang out.. but dang, I didn’t expect it to be _this _wild!”  
  
Marinette glared at the boy and didn’t bother answering him. It seemed that Adrien didn’t mind as he kept blabbering to Nino. Alya joined the group a little later, saw Marinette’s weary posture and looked at her friend questioningly.  
  
“I procrastinated. I finished all the papers and readings and _homework _last night. I’m sooo tired.” Marinette whined.  
  
“Why didn’t you start working on it before we hung out?” Alya asked, amused.  
  
“I didn’t think of doing that! Don’t you nag at me!!” Marinette answered, exasperated and throwing her arms up in defeat. Alya chuckled quietly and sat down next to her, allowing the blackette to sleep on her shoulder as she talked to the boys.  
  
***  
  
“Practical tests are fast approaching. And by fast I mean next week.” Ignoring the students’ protest, Mr. D’Argencourt marched on. “I would like you to take this seriously, that means..” he stopped pacing and faced the class.  
  
“Kim, Alix and Chloe. You are all coming with me.”  
  
The three mentioned students stood up and gasped in disbelief. “What?! Why??” “No way!!” “Hah! Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.”  
  
“Well you better believe it. You’re failing the practicals. And I know Ms. Bourgeois won’t take the practical tests seriously. Think of it as a remedial of sorts.” Mr. D’Argencourt smiled (a little too widely in Marinette’s opinion.)  
  
“Prsh, remedial my ass.” Alix muttered.  
  
Mr. D’Argencourt’s eye twitched as he stalked towards Alix, who leaned farther in her seat and away from the man. “Detention for you Ms. Kubdel.”  
  
Alix squawked, Kim not daring to protest against their (mad) teacher. Chloe learned that zipping her mouth shut is better than wasting her life away in detention every week. As Mr. D’Argencourt walked back towards the front of the classroom, Alya passed a note to Marinette, who managed to bring it under the table in time.  
  
‘Sleepover at your place? For study reasons of course.’  
  
Marinette looked at Alya, who innocently looked at the teacher as he discussed their inevitable practical tests for the umpteenth time. Marinette hurriedly scribbled out an answer and passed the note under her desk. When Alya discreetly read it, Marinette hummed and laid her head down on her desk that’s calling for her.  
  
Alya moved her bag so that the blackette is covered from their teacher’s prying eyes, who still looked unhinged as he ‘motivated’ them to do their best (his words, not Alya’s). She left her friend to sleep, only waking her up when the bell rang for their next lesson.  
  
***  
  
“So... you’re dragging-“  
  
“Encouraging”  
  
“-us to a sleepover with the intentions of.. studying?” Nino repeated, skeptical at Alya’s intentions as he and his bro Adrien walked down the street illuminated by various streetlights that lined them with the occasional lights from houses that haven’t slept in yet.  
  
When the day ended, Marinette went home early to prepare the house for her (unwilling) guests. Alya managed to drag Nino and Adrien along, after receiving permission from their parents and Natalie respectively. Now, they’re walking towards Marinette’s house, carrying their heavy bags along with them.  
  
“Alya I’m tired.” Adrien yawned, noticing the sky getting darker and darker. “What time is it anyway?”  
  
“Five o’clock-ish” Alya answered, going through her phone to send her friend a message, still walking alongside the boys.  
  
  
 _“Marinette, where’s your house again?”  
“Can’t you scroll up and read again?”  
“Nahh this is more convenient XD”  
“-_-“  
“: )”  
“It’s the tall beige one in xxxx street. Tell me when you found it.” _  
  
  
“Alya we’ve been walking since forever. Do you even know where we’re going?” Nino said, tired eyes looking at his friend, who now started dragging his feet across the pavement.  
  
Alya scoffed “Ppuhh-lease, Nino. Césaires have an innate sense of direction.” She boasted, setting down her phone and looked around, now aware the that the night has settled in. “Now.. where were we again?”  
  
Nino face-palmed as Adrien stopped hunching to glare at Alya. “We’re at xxxxx street Alya.” He snarked.  
  
“Oh.”  
  
“Oh? What do you mean ‘oh’!?” Nino cried, gaining the attention of nearby people who looked at them curiously. Adrien immediately shushed his friend as the red-capped boy looked exasperated.  
  
“It’s alright, I’ll just text Mari” she held out her phone to calm the down, now texting the blackette of their situation.  
  
  
 _“We haven’t found it.. and I think we’re lost.”  
“….”   
Pause  
“Of course you are. How charming.”   
“Shush Marinette help meeeeh”  
“I’m getting out now, tell me where are you and what do you see?” _  
  
  
As Alya continued handling their unfortunate situation, the exhausted boys proceeded to sit down on a stoned curb on a corner of the street, Alya absent-mindedly following them behind. They sat down in silence, exhausted from walking for an extended period of time, and content to just rest in comfortable silence.  
  
“Innate sense of direction, she said. It’ll be fun, she said.” Nino grumbled as Adrien smiled at his words.  
  
“Well, SHE has Marinette out and looking for us so if any of you see a frantic lady zipping in and out of the streets, just tell me.” Alya said, turning her phone off and sat next to Nino.  
  
They just sat down on the curb for a while until Adrien spoke. “Since we’ll be here for a while, Could I ask you guys something?”  
  
Nino and Alya looked at him and nodded. “Go shoot”  
  
“Why do you want to be a hero?”  
  
There was a long pause, and Adrien was about to backtrack when Nino had his answer. “I dunno, well, I’m gonna be a sidekick anyway so.. I guess I want to defend the public and shield them from harm.” He smirked.  
  
Adrien laughed and Alya groaned “That’s.. that’s totally unnecessary.” Adrien laughed even louder, Nino looking proud. “Well, I wanna be a hero that everyone can trust, that’s my goal.”  
  
Adrien hummed “Looks like you got it all planned out for ya.”  
  
Alya snorted, smiling “Prsh, barely!” she then turned to the blonde “What about you, Adrien? Why do YOU want to be a hero?”  
  
Adrien didn’t reply immediately, clearly thinking as he looked up and admired the sky. “I want to do it for someone. Someone I really care about. Me being a hero is for them” he finally said.  
  
Nino and Alya looked at each other as Adrien continued surveying the sky, sounding wistful. This continued on, just enjoying the silence (and the sky) while waiting to be picked up. Adrien mused, the sky looked especially dark tonight, with specks of white dust called stars placed everywhere in the black canvas above. The street noises in the background added to the feel of just sitting still. And for once, Adrien did sit still as he enjoyed the moment with Nino and Alya talking beside him. He was comfortable even with his aching feet as he observed the cars drove pass him, people walking by and _what is that small black-haired girl tripping herself up and running towards them…? _  
  
“Marinette..?”  
  
Alya and Nino stopped talking, perking up at hearing their friend’s name. They looked in the direction where Adrien is looking and Alya jumped up and ran towards the girl, enveloping her in a hug. Nino looked relieved as he spotted the blackette, walking towards her, waving his hands to greet her.  
  
Adrien snapped out of his reverie and walked near the girl. “Little Lady, you’re heeere” he said, almost knocking her over as he ran.  
  
Marinette looked unimpressed, directing that look towards Alya even more as she started ranting off how panicked she was when he heard them getting lost in her neighborhood, how scared she felt when she turned every street and they weren’t there , how she has been getting headaches and spots filled her vision looking at the gray concrete as she lead them towards her house. At one point, an officer interrupted the four, lecturing them and warning the students about staying outside late at night.  
  
“You darn kids! Stop roaming around the streets, especially now! Don’t you see what’s happening?” he yelled, moving his arms around.  
  
The four stepped backwards. “What, excuse me?” Adrien blinked.  
  
“The attacks! The rampant attacks and the dangerous monsters going on in this city!!” he cried, his gestured frantically.  
  
“Yeah, uhm.. we’ll stay out of the way. Sir…” Marinette stuttered. Another officer walked towards them and started leading his colleague away from the four.  
  
“James, how many times have I told you to stop scaring the kids?” he tutted, looking at the four and apologizing as he tugged his friend away, who protested and screamed against him.  
  
“I’m lucky I found you so quickly.” Marinette commented as she neared her home.  
  
“Yeah, how did you find us anyway?” Alya asked.  
  
Marinette’s face scrunched up in thought “I dunno, the street you guys were in were way too far off by the way, so I started down that road because its.. less dark? Glowy? Hell I dunno.” Marinette said, rubbing her eyes. “But hey, I did find you so my instincts must be still working.”  
________________________________  
  
Epilogue:  
  
Tired from running around searching for Marinette’s personal bio folder, Marinette and Adrien walked down the hallways of the school, all towards the main door, chatting with each other and simply keeping each other for company. Out of blue, Adrien asked Marinette.  
  
“Hey short stacks, why do you wanna be a hero, or sidekick in your case?”  
  
Marinette frowned at the nickname but still answered the boy “Oh I.. don’t really. Being a sidekcick.. or a hero doesn’t appeal to me.”  
  
“Why not? You get to help people, and get paid too.” Adrien was shocked.  
  
“So do teachers and doctors.” She countered “The fame helps but it really isn’t worth it.”  
  
Her eyes are downcast, while Adrien looked at her, silent but not uncomfortable.  
  
“Being a hero isn’t worth losing people I care about. It sucks. But hey! I'll do some saving of my own. Maybe I’ll take fashion designing for college, saving people from a fashion disaster” Marinette told him. Adrien told her he understood, chuckled and told her she could be anything she wants to be. Marinette kept walking until they reached the main door.____________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue took place last chapter, when Adrien walked Marinette out of the campus. They had this conversation in the duration of their walk.
> 
> EXAMS ARE FINALLY OVERRR~! JUST A COUPLE MORE TO GOO T-T
> 
> Also you guys know RC9GN? Or Randy Cunningham 9th Grade Ninja?? It was a good show. Its plot and premise like villains turning kids into monsters and a black-and-red herois similar to the Miraculous. Except more superior (in my opinion, since I watched that show five years ago, and it may be weird, but it has so much life and potential before it was cancelled. As a young child, I was heartbroken). Check it out if you guys are interested.
> 
> Thanks for reading this~ honestly really


	9. Don't Bottle Up Your Feelings, My Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another sleepover.

  
The boys (and Alya) are coming over for a sleepover again. This time, Marinette cleaned the house earlier this morning so that she’ll be the one leading them towards her home and NOT get lost. Again. And so that Marinette won’t deal with another major migraine looking at the glowy, spotted streets and running around looking for her friends (friends!).  
  
After another tiring day at school, with Mr. D’Argencourt and his stupid basketball shorts are going at them with renewed passion during practicals while being twitchy doing so. She is walking around half-awake from all that group studying they did, and glad that this sleepover is them taking a break from all that non-stop studying they did together.  
  
Marinette chattered excitedly about otherworldly creatures as Alya laughed from something that Nino said, and Adrien made a comeback along the lines of ‘ghosts are not real, shortcake’. The two bantered on, talking shit to each other half-heartedly as Alya and Nino prevented them gravitating towards the middle of the street.  
  
Safe to say, never bring up supernatural beings to Adrien and Marinette, you’ll get a full hour discussion from them. Truly liberating.  
  
They made it home in one piece. Alya and Nino can’t complain about it.  
  
***  
  
“Guess what?” Alya said, moving too close for Marinette’s comfort.  
  
“uUh.. you lost your sense of personal space?” Marinette guessed. Alya noticed how close they are and moved farther, Adrien and Nino in the background, helping themselves on some takeout and Marinette’s videogames.  
  
Alya held up a soda bottle. “Where did you get that?” the blackette asked, pointing at the plastic container.  
  
The brunette rolled her eyes “Let’s play Spin the Bottle!” She said, ignoring her friend’s question.  
  
Marinette looked at her with a blank expression. “The what now?”  
  
“Oh, oh you poor child.” Alya exclaimed in realization. She moved over to the sofa and dragged the boys out of their game, a resounding ‘GAME OVER’ made them cry out in despair as Alya continued dragging the two over to the floors of the living room, where they collectively decided as their sleepover area since it sits between the kitchen and the bathroom, allowing them easy access to both rooms.  
  
“This better be good, Alya. I could almost taste Adrien’s defeat before you dragged us here.” Nino exclaimed. Adrien slapped the boy’s arms, which Nino retaliated by grabbing his blonde locks, and the two scuffled in the living room floor.  
  
“Alright knock it out you two.” Alya held separated the two . “Marinette has no idea what Spin the Bottle is-“  
  
“Yeah I do” Marinette retorted. “I just.. don’t know how to play it.” She murmured.  
  
“Oh that’s pretty self explanatory actually.” Adrien said, untangling his hair from their normal, gelled state. “You spin the bottle..” he spins the bottle. “And when it points to you, you’re gonna be asked a question by one of us.” He said, as the bottle slowly stops to a halt, pointing towards Nino.  
  
And they spun the night away, asking each other questions that revealed a lot about themselves to their friends.  
  
“You have _how many _siblings?! Damn Alya, no wonder you look old.” Nino claimed as Adrien and Marinette chuckled.  
  
Nino’s turn with the bottle left them all leaning in the middle as Nino took out his phone and played a compilation of songs he compiles as a hobby.  
  
“And you make commissions?” Alya said in shock.  
  
Nino blushed as he shuffled a couple of his handmade playlists. “Music has always been aa hobby that I love. So, I figured, why not make money out of it?”  
  
“And who usually asks for your work?” Marinette asked curiously.  
  
“A couple of radio artists, Jagged Stone and XY for their own inspiration..” Nino blushed even more as his friends’ eyes grew wider and wider.  
  
_“WHAT?!?!?” _  
  
It was Marinette’s turn after Alya embarrassingly revealed her love for Grapefruit Bear, and Adrien got to ask her a question.  
  
“Pardon me if I’m being sensitive but, I was curious. If your mom could resize any single object, what was your father’s power?”  
  
Nino nudged his ribs with his elbow. “Oh no Nino, its ok. I mean, papa has no powers like me, though not inherently. Granma has an incredible power of turning things into stone, and Grandpa has some sort of sixth sense, kinda like spiderman, but what if he's a chef.”  
  
The three looked at her carefully, Marinette fiddled with her jacket while being stared down “So, shall we continue?” she said cheerily, taking the bottle and spinning it like before. Hoping it won’t stop on her again.  
  
It landed on Adrien instead.  
  
“It’s the Golden boy’s turn, sooo… hmm” Alya wondered, trying to think of a question to throw at the blonde.  
  
“Oh, I know.” Nino said, moving closer to his friend. “Who was that buff dude who drives your car all the time?”  
  
“Oh that..” Adrien sheepishly rubbed his neck. “I don’t know, we never talk much. I call him Gorilla, ironic since he isn’t the type to go monkeying around” he smirked.  
  
“I should have known that was coming.” Marinette tutted, shaking her head.  
  
“Wait, you have a personal driver. Adrien, are you rich?!” Alya asked him.  
  
“Erm.. only one question per round remember?” he stuttered, daintily taking the bottle and spinning it around.  
  
“Well, good luck with that, cuz Alya’s on a roll.” She pointed at Alya, who breathed heavily with her mouth bared. Adrien looked at the hero apprehensively.  
  
Luckily, the bottle landed at Alya herself, who glared at the offensive object as he sighed in relief.  
  
After a night of fun and embarrassment (from Alya at least), they now know that Marinette has a mini garden in her room, Nino has an affinity for bubbles, Adrien is rich _(“Yes, Alya, I’m rich”) _, and Alya was a bed-wetter until she was 8 years-old (which she admitted under the heavy gazes of the three).  
  
The four will be getting ready for bed, Adrien and Marinette waited for Nino and Alya to finish, the latter still red from embarrassment with the former getting some second-hand embarrassment as she refused to get out of the bathroom.  
  
“Alya come onnn! We don’t mind that you were a bed wetter until recently.”  
  
“Go away, Nino! I can’t believe you guys made me say it.” Alya whined  
  
Nino looked at the door, exasperated. Huffing, he moved to lean against the bathroom door.  
  
“Nino? You still there?” she asked.  
  
Nino hummed, as he continued sitting down outside the bathroom. He could hear footsteps and shuffles of movement on the other side of the door, and thinking that it’ll take Alya for a while to come out from her embarrassment, he closed his eyes out of exhaustion.  
  
His nap was interrupted by the brunette calling his name. “Nino?”  
  
He hummed again, and Alya took this as a sign to continue. “Can you get my bag please? My pajamas are in there.”  
  
Nino wordlessly got up and reached for the orange bag Alya always brought with her, walking back toward the bathroom, he knocked on the door to let her know.  
  
The door squeaked, opening a little bit and the brunette’s eyes peeked outside. Seeing her bag, her hand reached out, grabbed the thing and quickly locked the door shut. Nino stood there, his hand still in the air after having the bag ripped so suddenly from him.  
  
He shook his head, snapping out of it and looked at the door with mild annoyance. “THANK YOU!!” Alya shouted from the inside, and this satisfied the boy as he stood waiting from the outside.  
  
Looking away from the other two’s shenanigans, Marinette’s attention turned to Adrien. “Did you have fun?” Marinette asked, wearing her strawberry colored pajamas and faces Adrien, who wore a simple white tee and striped pajamas.  
  
“It was.. good” Adrien proclaimed, also facing the blackette. “You’re the one who didn’t play Spin the Bottle until now, I should be asking you if _you _had fun.”  
  
Marinette looked to the side. “Well, not really. I played with some people before. It was just a long time since that happened.”  
  
Adrien smiled, leaning closer at the blackette. “I have a confession.” He said. Marinette’s eyes widened before leaning in curiously.  
  
“I used to play Spin the Bottle by myself before. It wasn’t as fun as with a group. Obviously.” He looked at her eyes, his smile turning painful “With you, and Nino and Alya, it was fun. I had fun. I hope you had fun too.”  
  
“Yeah, I did.” She nodded, turning her head away from Adrien. “I had fun.” She grinned.  
  
Nino managed to finally convince Alya to come out of the bathroom after much, _much _coaxing. The pair made their way over to Marinette and Adrien, where Adrien began sharing his fair share of embarrassing stories to ease Alya’s embarrassment.  
  
The four finally crashed into their respective sleeping bags late at night, tired but relaxed from spending the night hanging out with each other. And for once, the work that comes with being a hero or a sidekick is forgotten as they slept soundly throughout the night.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Epilogue:  
  
Marinette tossed and turned in her sleeping bag, too restless to fall asleep. This went on for a while, before she resigned and sat up, rubbing her eyes as she did so. She started to stare off into space, replaying the night in her mind.  
  
It’s a good evening. Well, more than good, its one of the best she had so far. She smiled as she kept thinking about it, from Nino’s chuckles to Alya’s apparent embarrassment on her liking a childhood bear. The night isn’t short on fun and laughter, something that Marinette in unapologetic for even with the threats of Alya castrating her for asking such stupid (Alya’s words, not hers) questions.  
  
Now she truly can’t go back to sleep.  
  
She got up and started pacing, having read before that exhaustion helps in sleeping. She paced back and forth in front of the shelf, her eyes wandering through the cracks of the walls of her house. When she reached the end to turn around, her eyes caught the family portrait sitting on the shelf.  
  
Marinette stopped and moved closer, her eyes never leaving the frame. It was a photo of her family, just the three of them. Her father is laughing heartily as her mother looks at him wistfully, while her younger self is at the bottom, grinning and holding up a plastic bottle after one of their family game nights.  
  
  
  
_(Her parents tried limiting the amount of video games she’s exposed to as a child, and after much talking and debating, her parents came up with a family game night.  
A young Marinette sat in between her parents, watching the bottle slowly halting to a stop, landing on her father. She squealed, shooting up as she asked her father excitedly.  
  
“Papa!! I saw Nika’s parents do some magic, what magic can you do papa?” she asked, jumping up and down expectantly.  
  
Her father looked at her mother, who gave him an encouraging smile. “My dear sweet Marinette, papa isn’t like Nika’s parents. I can’t do any magic.” He told her.  
  
Young Marinette stop bouncing, clearly confused. “But the teachers can do magic, and our old neighbour Elmer can make things disappear and mama can make things small. How come you can’t?”  
  
Her father shrugged. “I’m not born with it I guess. But that’s okay sweet pea, I could still do other things that are just as good.”  
  
Her mother popped in before her younger self could get upset. “Besides, your father makes the most delicious rolls of all Paris, that is better than what some old silly magic can do.” She said, kissing her husband’s cheek as a young Marinette gagged. The couple laughed, her father moving to carry her and threw her upwards and catching her, laughter bubbling on their chests.  
  
The game was momentarily forgotten as they enjoyed the night away) _  
  
  
  
Marinette smiled at the memory, already missing her father dearly. Feeling exhausted, she moved away from the shelf and towards her own sleeping bag. As she pulled the blankets to cover her body, she looked to the side to see Alya’s astray, and Nino disappeared under the massive blanket she gave him. She spotted Adrien laying on his side, facing the other way as she laid down to sleep. She closed her eyes and thought of nothing, exhaustion turning her mind to mush, and not long after, she joined her friends in their deep slumber.  
  
Adrien moved from sleeping on his side to laying down on his back, revealing the state of his hair and eyes that are clearly open and not asleep, looking up in the ceiling. He looked at Nino, Alya and Marinette, who all are sleeping peacefully beside each other. He looked back at the ceiling and sighed, figured that he will be having another sleepless night, grumbling as he adjusted the position of his pillow before closing his eyes again, attempting to bring himself to sleep.  
____________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost forgot this story existed.. whoops HAHAHAH sorry..  
> I have 6 chapters drafted already.. school just burried those under dozens of Essays and Reports. I'll just change what I can about 'em.  
>   
> Thanks for reading~ (really tho, this isn't anything serious cuz if it is then stress will kill me faster than any disease)  
> 


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